A Past Not Forgotten
by Cable Addict
Summary: When Ziva get's hurt, Tony comes by to check on her and discovers a secret that she has been hiding for quite sometime. Possible Tiva. Not quite sure yet. I still don't own NCIS.
1. A world goes black

"Damn it." Gibbs swore.

"We just missed him Boss," McGee said coming out of the bedroom, "he couldn't have gone far. And with the BOLO out on his car, it's only a matter of time before the cops get him."

"Ya think I don't know that McGee? I wanted to bust his ass NOW." Gibbs replied.

I had been a hard case. Abby had matched the fingerprints a while, it had been hard to do, and then it took a while for NCIS to find an address. They had finally identified and found Lieutenant Christian Banks. Banks was wanted for murdering two fellow officers when they had refused when he ordered them to take out their commanding officer.

"Shush!" Ziva hissed at them. "Something's not right."

She walked over towards the back door, opened it and walked into the backyard. Gibbs, McGee and Tony followed behind her. Ziva stopped in front of the shed in the yard.

"Christian Banks!" Gibbs yelled. "Come out with your hands up!"

There was silence in the shed, so Ziva opened the door.

The first thing the four NCIS agents saw when the door to the shed was opened was a man standing there with his gun raised and pointed directly at Ziva.

"Drop the weapon." Tony growled. He didn't like it when they were confronted with guns. And he liked it even less when said weapon was pointed at his partner.

"I don't think so." Banks growled.

There was a bang, a scream, yelling and more gunfire before a world went black.


	2. Banks shot you

_A/N: This chapter is shorter. The next one will be longer. I promise. And I don't usually go back on my word. Happy reading. Lol._

"Ziva?" Tony yelled. "Ziva, can you hear me?"

Ziva moaned, and her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"What happened?" She whispered, trying to sit up. She was then aware that someone was holding her abdomen and she wasn't able to sit up properly.

"I think this counts as yellow light behavior Tony."

"Lay down Ziva." Came Gibbs' gruff voice. It sounded different, weaker maybe, almost fatherly.

Ziva was a bit startled at her boss' voice, but did what she was told to do.

"What happened?" She repeated.

"Banks shot you." Tony said as he pushed harder on Ziva's stomach area.

She winced as he did so.

"Sorry." He whispered.

"Apologizing is a sign of,"  
"Weakness. I know." He finished for her, giving her a small smile as he did.

"Besides, this isn't a real bad wound."

Tony looked at her.

"I've had _much_ worse."

"EMT's will be here any minute boss." He said as he took in the scene of Ziva laying on the ground, bleeding. "Banks is dead." He added hastily.

"Yeah, I kind of figured McGee." Gibbs said as he took off his jacket, folded it, and put it behind Ziva's head. "Thanks Gibbs." She smiled weakly.

The backyard gate swung open and Gibbs and McGee pulled their guns.


	3. The ride to Bethesda

"Woah! We're the EMT's. We were called to this address." The first guy said.

Gibbs and McGee sighed a sigh of relief and re-holstered their weapons.

"So which one of you guy's is the one who needs medical attention?" The second guy asked.

Gibbs, McGee, Tony, Ziva and the first EMT, glared at the second EMT.

"Gee, I don't know Jack." The first EMT scratched his head. "But I think it might be the one on the ground bleeding! Get over there you idiot!"

Jack walked by and the first EMT smacked him on the back of the head.

Gibbs, Ziva and McGee chuckled at this gesture, but Tony winced.

The first EMT came over to Ziva and began to help Jack work on her.

"I'm Joe. And, as you already know, that," he motioned towards his colleague, "is Jack."

Joe and Jack pushed the three agents away as they huddled around Ziva and began to get her ready for the trip to the hospital.

"We're taking her to Bethesda, just so you know." Jack said.

Joe smacked him on the back of the head. "I think they can figure that out Jack-ass."

Gibbs, McGee and Tony chuckled, and Ziva giggled slightly, but stopped because of the gunshot wound on her side.

"Anyone want to ride with her?" Joe asked.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said. Tony turned and looked at his Boss, a surprised look on his face. "You ride with her. I'll call a secondary team to come process the scene. McGee and I'll be there as soon as they get here."

"Okay. Thanks Boss." Tony called over his shoulder as he ran to catch up with the gurney.

Once Joe had gotten Ziva situated inside the ambulance so that her gurney wouldn't be rolling around in the back, he had jumped out of the back, Jack jumped in, Joe slammed the doors and got in the front seat. The engine started and the ambulance started moving.

"It'll be fine. I promise." Tony whispered to her.

"Tony, I'm fine. I've been shot more times than I care to count." She whispered back.

"Then why the long face?"

"What?"

"Long face. It's an expression. It means sad. Why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad."

"Then why do you look sad?"

"I'm not sad!"

"Perplexed?"  
"Why the hell would I be perplexed?"

"I don't know, you tell me. You're the one who just got shot." He said, his eyes and face laced with concern.

"What's wrong?" Ziva questioned. She had never seen Tony look like this, and quit frankly, it was scaring her.

"I just hate seeing you like this. You're so weak, and vulnerable."

"Oh, quit with the poetry, I'm fine." She snapped. Tony clenched. "Sorry." She whispered.

"Apologizing is a sign of weakness." Tony replied automatically.

"Well Tony, as you just put, oh so poetically a second ago, I _am_ weak at this moment in time."

There was silence in the back of the ambulance for a few moments before Tony spoke again.

"Why do you look scared if you're not scared?"

"I'm not scared Tony, I'm worried."

Tony had not been expecting this response.

"Why are you worried?"

Ziva was saved from responding, by Jack, who decided that this moment was the best time to put an oxygen mask over Ziva's mouth.

As Ziva's eyes drooped closed, Tony took her hand in his and held it until they got to Bethesda.


	4. 1,980 seconds

Tony, McGee and Gibbs sat in the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the "Bethesda Emergency Trauma Waiting Room" in silence for six minutes and forty-seven seconds. Tony had been counting the number of seconds since the EMT's, a few nurses and a couple of Doctors had rushed Ziva into Trauma room 3.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my GOD!" Was heard in the hallway, and that was when Tony was sure that the rest of the team had arrived. He, McGee and Gibbs stood up just as the doors opened and in walked Abby, Jen and Ducky.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Abby kept repeating as she walked straight into McGee's arms.

"Jethro I demand to know exactly what happened at that crime scene." Jen said as she walked over to Gibbs. She didn't stop until she was standing directly in front of him.

Ducky, seeing that both Gibbs and McGee were busy either comforting or confronting, walked over and took a seat next to the one that Tony had just left.

Tony sat back down.

"Anthony?" Ducky asked timidly.

"Yeah Ducky?" Tony replied, tiredness evident in his voice.

"What happened?"

Running a hand over his face and sighing, Tony turned and looked at the old ME.

"When we got to the crime scene, Banks wasn't there." He sighed again, thinking back to the events that had happened earlier that day.

"We went out to the shed in the backyard and Ziva opened it. Banks was there and he shot her." Tony sounded like he was close to tears now, but when Ducky looked in his eyes, he didn't see anything.

"Well that's quite dreadful! I hope you shot the bastard dead!"

Tony looked at the Scotsman. It wasn't everyday that peaceful Dr. Mallard lost his temper. Tony looked up at the others. They too had a look of surprise on their faces.

"Sorry." Ducky whispered.

Gibbs smiled, chuckled slightly, but as soon as he turned to face the director, that smile vanished and was met with a glare.

"She was perfectly capable to make her own decision Jen. Besides, she's Ziva. She's too stubborn to die."  
Jen smiled slightly at this comment. Indeed, her friend _was_ to stubborn to give up this way.

"Jethro is quite right Tony. Ziva wouldn't give up like this, not lying in a bed, she would go out in a shower of bullets. A hail of gunfire. Like one of your movies." Ducky chuckled. "Yes, I'm quite sure that our Ziva David will be back with us soon."

Tony smiled. Ducky was right. Ziva would be back at her desk, annoying him, siding with McGee, making idiomatic reference mistakes, soon enough.  
"Thanks Duck. You're right. Ziva wouldn't throw in the towel _that_ easily."

The team sat in relative silence for a few more minutes.

McGee continued holding Abby, Abby kept whispering "Oh my god, oh my god." Over and over again. Gibbs and Jen continued their glaring match. Ducky was staring into space. Tony continued counting the seconds.

1,980 seconds, or 33 minutes, later, a doctor came out into the waiting room.

"Ziva David?"

Everyone stood up.


	5. Nosey people

"I'm her boss." Gibbs said.

"I'm his boss." Jenny topped him.  
"I'm her partner." Tony added.

"I'm her best friend." Abby said, adding to the pile of NCIS employees, trying to out rank each other.

"Okay then." The doctor said, looking like he thought the people in front of him were crazy. "Well, Miss David is fine, it's just a graze. She has to stay over night for observation, but she should be out in the morning." He turned to go, "Oh, I almost forgot, Miss David is asking for a," The doctor looked at his notes, "a Jenny Shepard?" He looked at the group.

"That would be me doctor." Jenny said as she stepped forward, smirking slightly.

The rest of the group scowled.

"Would you please follow me Miss Shepard?" The doctor asked

"Of course doctor." Jen replied.

"I'm going to go get some Coffee." Gibbs said as Jen walked away.

Once Jenny was out of sight, Tony stood up.

"Where are you going Tony?" Abby asked.

"Stretching my legs."

"I'll follow him." McGee whispered, getting up and following Tony down the hall.

"Jen, please! I want to go home tonight, I _need _to go home tonight!"  
"Ziva, I can take her, I'll keep her until you get out of hospital."

"No! Jen I _need_ to go. Please!"

Jen sighed as she looked at her friend, determination was clear on the young Israeli's face.

"Fine, I'll talk to your doctor. If he says 'yes,' you don't come back into work until at least Tuesday. And then it's desk work for at least," She trailed off in thought, "well, when you get back, we'll talk about it then."

"Thanks Jen."

"You're welcome Ziva. I'm sure Sa…" She started to say something, but Ziva shushed her.

"What?" Jen asked, confused.

"There's a nosey Italian and a nosey but timid American out side with their ears pressed up against my door." She said smiling.

Jen smiled, rolled her eyes, walked over to the door and opened it.

Sure enough, Tony and McGee were crouched on the floor with their ears pressed up against where the door had been just moments ago.

"Hi Jenny." Tony said cheerfully. "McGee here dropped his contact lens and we were just looking for it." He said smiling and looking on the floor.

"Tony, I don't wear contact lenses. I have 20/20 vision." McGee said, a look of confusion on his face.

Tony slapped McGee on the back of the head. "Yes you do McFour-Eyes."

"I'll go talk to your doctor Ziva. Sit tight until then." Jen said.

"Where would I go?"

"How are you feeling?" Tony asked as soon as Jen had left the room.

"Like I took a 9mm bullet to my ribcage." She said, struggling to sit up.

Tony went to the right side of her bed and motioned for McGee to take the left side. Together the two NCIS agents managed to pull Ziva into a sitting position, despite her protests.

"Thanks." She said, defeated as they both helped her anyway.

"Yup." Tony said.

"So the doctors say that you can leave tomorrow morning." McGee said after an awkward moment of silence.

"Hopefully sooner than that," Ziva said, "The director is talking to my doctor."

As if on cue, Jen walked back into the room.

"Your doctor says that if you keep it easy and don't do anything strenuous, you can leave tonight. Special Agent DiNozzo, McGee, could you please excuse us? Officer David needs to get dressed."


	6. Released

Tony and McGee walked back into the waiting room. Gibbs had long since returned with his coffee and was talking with Abby. Ducky was telling some children a story of one of his many adventures and the children were staring at him with their mouths agape in fascination. There were a coupe of adults over by the window talking to the nurse who sat behind it.

Abby looked up, stood up and ran over to McGee, engulfing him in a hug.

"DiNozzo? McGee?" Gibbs asked expectantly.

"She's getting out of the hospital tonight Boss." McGee informed him.

"She had Jenny pull some strings." Tony added.

Gibbs smirked, that was just like Ziva.

"So Ziva's ok?" Abby asked.

"Yeah Abs." Tony answered for McGee, who was currently being choked to death by Abby's death-hug.

"But McGee's not going to be if you don't let go of him." He added.

Abby released him, and he immediately started panting.

"Sorry Timmy." She said giving him a gentler hug.

"It's ok Abby." He said as he returned the hug.

Tony started walking back over to take a seat. Seeing his partner like that had really taken a toll on him. He was about to sit down when he heard Abby squeal. He turned to see what had made her react like this, and he couldn't help but laugh.

Ziva was being pushed down the hall in a wheelchair, but this wasn't what had made him laugh. What made him laugh was the expression on her face. She was scowling and had her arms crossed. The nurse who was pushing the chair had a triumphant look on her face, as did Jenny.

Tony opened his mouth to comment the scene, but received a glare from Ziva that could freeze fire, and immediately closed it again.

Jenny thanked the nurse and took over pushing the chair still containing a very angry Ziva.

"Ziva! Are you okay? How do you feel? Director how did you convince them to let her go? How are you going to get home? Who's going to take care of you? When are you coming back to work? Are you in pain?" Abby said in one breath, she took another deep breath before saying, "How's…" but she was cut off when McGee placed a hand over her mouth.

"I'm fine. Jen's going to drive me, I'll be ok by myself, I don't know when I can come back to work, and not really."

"I had a talk with Ziva's doctor. He was reluctant at first, but when I flashed my badge and told him about some of Ziva's previous situations, he agreed that she was ok to go."

"You didn't tell him about Cairo did you?" Ziva asked looking up a Jen.

Jen looked down at her wounded friend before answering, "No Ziva, I did not."

Relief flooded the young officer's features as soon as she got her answer.

"Thanks." She said. "Can I get out of this stupid chair now?"


	7. Discovery

"It took me three hours to put her down! Yes she's asleep now. No, I don't think their will be any more problems. She kept worrying that the 'bad man' will come back and hurt me again. I know. I told her that that would not happen, but she wouldn't believe me. Yes, we had to play the song. Several times actually. I think I'm going to break that CD. Yeah I know. Hold on Jen, someone's at my door. If they wake her up, I swear to god…" Ziva trailed off as she opened the door and saw Tony standing on her door step.

"Tony! What are you doing here?" She looked down at the phone that was resting on her shoulder. "Can I call you back Jen? Toda. Shalom."

She turned her attention back to her partner standing on her door step, and repeated the question.

"What are you doing here?"

Tony shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine."

There was an awkward silence between the two.

"That's good." He said, "Can I come in?"

Ziva hesitated for a moment before stepping back and opening the door wider.

"Thanks Zee-vah."

"Your welcome To-ny."

Once they were both situated comfortably on the couch, Ziva asked again.

"Why are you really here? We both know that you wouldn't come all the way over here just to see if I was ok."

"Well, you're my partner Officer David, and I did come here to check up on you." Tony said, flashing her one of his best smiles.

"Really?" Ziva asked skeptically.

"Really."

"Well now you've seen me and seen that I am in fact fine, so you can go back to doing whatever it is you do on Friday nights." She said hurriedly.

"Ziva I…" But he was cut off by a cry.

Ziva growled and hissed "Stay right there!" at him as she got up off the couch and went into the hallway and into the first door on the right.

Tony DiNozzo was a curious man, but when Ziva David hissed at him and told to "stay" he did what he was told. Usually. He had already stood up and was making his way over to the hall, when he heard whimpering.

He instinctively crept towards the slightly ajar door and peeked inside.


	8. Sammy

What he saw next was not on his list of possible scenes.

Ziva was sitting in a rocking chair that was next to a bed. On her lap was a little girl in a nightgown, who if Tony had to guess, could only be two or three. Ziva was cooing to her and stroking her hair the way a mother would do to their child. The little girl had long black hair that was pulled back into twin pigtails. She had her thumb in her mouth and was starting to drift back to sleep when she saw Tony in the doorway and her eyes shot open. She squealed and pointed towards the door. Ziva looked up, sighed, rolled her eyes and glared at Tony.

"Sammy, sweetheart, that's my friend from work. That's Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, who I _told_ to stay in the living room. He never listens to me." She tickled the little girl's tummy and Sammy let out a giggle.

"Are you sure he's not the bad man?" Sammy whispered.

"Positive." Ziva replied.

Tony opened the door wider and timidly took a step into the room.

The room was on the small side. It was painted a light shade of lavender and had pictures all over the walls. There was a closet, and a doll-house in front of it in the corner of the room. On the other side of the room was a dresser, which had a series of trinkets on it, a mirror was connected to the back of the dresser and was covered with stickers. The bed was in the corner opposite the doll-house and there was a rocking chair next to it. Next to the rocking chair stood a small nightstand with a purple CD player and a lamp on it, above the table, hung a calendar. There was a toy chest at the foot of the bed, and a stuffed teddy-bear was sitting on top of it. There was a nightlight in the shape of an angel plugged into the wall underneath the windows, where lavender curtains hung over white blinds. A purple dream catcher hung from the knot that the curtains were tied into.

"How can you be sure?" Sammy asked.

"Well sweetie, the bad man is, uh, he is um…Well, he's dead." Ziva reassured her.

"Is he with Aunt Tali?" The little girl asked, panic evident in her voice.

"No, sweetheart. No he is not." Ziva replied quickly.

"Is he with Grandma?"

"No."

"Sarah?"

"No sweetie, he is not with Sarah."  
"Is he with Uncle…" Sammy began, but was cut off by Ziva.

"No." She responded quickly, but then she rethought her answer. "Well, I don't know. Maybe." She said as she kissed the young girls head and put her back into bed.

"You're sure?" Sammy asked, her voice sounding like she didn't believe what Ziva was saying.

"I am, absolutely, positively, 100, positive." She tucked the little girl in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now stop stalling and close those pretty little eyes."

"Can you sing the song again?" Sammy asked innocently.

"Samantha Grace," Ziva scolded lightly, "We sang the song 100 times already! Close your eyes so that we can get up and do something tomorrow! Aunty Jen said that I can't go back into work until Tuesday, so we have plenty of time to sing the song until then."

"But It'll help me sleep!" Samantha protested.

Ziva sighed and turned around so that she was facing the nightstand. She pressed the button and music started to play.

_A/N: Well there you have it. "Sa…" is Samantha. What is her relation to Ziva I wonder… Well, I know, but I doubt you do. Mwa ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I hope I got this chapter right. I think that Ziva would act like this around a child. What do you think? Please review and tell me who you think Sam is, and if I nailed the Ziva/Sam relationship. Thanks! Cable Addict. P.S. Can anyone guess what Sam's favorite color is?_


	9. ANGEL

Natasha Bedingfield's "Angel" flooded the room.

_A-N-G-E-L / A-N-G-E-L /Just like a shadow / I'll be beside you / I'll be your comfort / I'm there to guide you home / I will provide you / a place of shelter / I wanna be your stone / I'll act as if you do / Tell me what you're wanting me to do / I'll make it great to be a man / With a woman who can stand / On every promise given / Makin' vows to please her man / If I could be your angel /(Your angel, your angel) / Protect you from the pain /(From the pain) / I'll keep you safe from danger /(From danger, from danger) / You'll never hurt again no more / I'll be you're a-n-g-e-l / I'll be your a-n-g-e-l / I'll be your angel / Just like the moon I'll step aside / And let your sunshine while / I follow behind cuz baby what you got / You deserve all the props you're everything / I'm not I'm so glad you're mine /Tell me what your wanting me to do / I'll make it great to be a man / With a woman who can stand / On every promise given / Makin' vows to please her man / If I could be your angel / If I could be your angel / (Your angel, your angel) / Protect you from the pain / I would protect you from the pain / I'll keep you safe from danger / You'll never hurt again / I'll be you're a-n-g-e-l / angel /a-n-g-e-l / angel / a-n-g-e-l /I'm gona be /gona be / I'll be your angel / Tell me why are there are so many good / Men in the world misunderstood / He's a dog, he's no good / I wish somebody would / Disrespect my man / You gon have to come see me / I go hard for my baby / He's all that I need / So if you gotta good one / Put your hands up / C'mon girl and stand up / Go ahead lift your man up / Get up / If you gotta good one / Put your hands up / C'mon girl and stand up / Go ahead lift your man up / Get up / If I could be your angel /(Your angel, your angel) / Protect you from the pain / (Protect you from the pain, from the pain, from the pain) / I'll keep you safe from danger / (From danger, from danger) / You'll never hurt again / (And you'll never hurt again) / a-n-g-e-l / a-n-g-e-l / You'll never hurt again / a-n-g-e-l / a-n-g-e-l / You'll never hurt again / a-n-g-e-l / a-n-g-e-l / a-n-g-e-l /A-N-G-E-L / a-n-g-e-l / I'll be your angel_

When the song was done playing, Sammy's eyes had closed, indicating that the little girl was finally asleep.

Ziva bent over and kissed the little girls head once more, and turned to leave the room. Tony exited the room closely followed by Ziva. Once in the hallway, Ziva shut the door so that only a crack was left open, and walked into the kitchen.

"You want answers yes?" She promptly asked Tony.

Tony was startled. He hadn't expected Ziva to say anything. And when he was expecting her to say something, he didn't think that that would be the first thing out of her mouth.

"Yeah, when you want to talk about it." He answered.

"Do you want anything to drink?" She asked getting a glass out of the cabinet and filling it with water. "It's kind of a long story."

"Sure." He said, sitting down on the couch.

There was noise in the kitchen as Ziva got the second glass of water, and Tony took this time to process the information that he just saw. The reaction between Ziva and Sam was almost mother and daughter like. He was brought back into the present when Ziva set the glasses down on the table in front of him.

"Well, I guess the best place to start would be the beginning."

_A/N: I tried to get the lyrics right. I had to listen to the CD to add some of the extra words. I love that song. That song was actually my inspiration for Sammy to be born (so to speak.) It's cheesy sounding, yes, but I get my inspiration from music. Kind of weird…_

_By the way, those who guessed lavender/purple for Sam's favorite color, are wrong. It was orange. Just kidding, you were right. Next chapter has the explanation of, well, you'll see._


	10. Storytime

_A/N: Here's what I think happened in Cairo. WARNING: May be a little dark. Emotional too._

"It's not exactly something I'm proud of." Ziva began. "I mean, don't get me wrong. Having Sam was one of the only good things that I've done in my life." She sighed and took a sip of her water. Tony did the same.

"I love her to death; I just wish the circumstances were different." She paused again, searching for the right words. "Cairo, August 2004. I was assigned a mission to find and 'save' Jennifer Shepard." She air-quoted the word 'save'. "I went, I got myself captured, I found Jen." She shuddered at the memory of Jenny tied to a chair, badly beaten and bloody.

"I don't remember exactly how long we were held. When we got out we were told that it had only been 12 days. It felt like a lifetime. God only knows what they did to Jen. I know they were easier on her because she cracked under interrogation first. Even after they got the information from her, they didn't stop beating her." Ziva glanced down at the carpet. "They were all but kind to me. I wouldn't break. Mossad trained us to be tough, not to give into the satisfaction of your captures torture. I shouldn't have cracked as soon as I did."

"How long did you last?" Tony asked.

"8 days." She answered.

Tony could tell that she was disappointed with herself. He didn't understand why. 8 days was impressive. No, it was more than impressive. It was amazing. He doubted that many people could survive that long and live to tell about it several years later.

"How long did Jenny last?" He asked.

"A few hours." She whispered. "I was surprised that she lasted that long."

Tony took her hand in his, and she looked up and met his eyes. They signaled for her to continue.

"They did anything they could to get us to talk. Mostly me, but Jen too. They thought that since I was Mossad, I would have more of a value, more information. I did what I could to turn their attention from Jen to me. And it worked."

"They raped you." Tony whispered, it was more of a statement than a question.

Ziva didn't answer this, so Tony took that as a 'yes'.

"When we got out, I found out that I was pregnant." She stood up and started pacing the room. "Six months later, my half-brother hunted down the men that had captured us, and they were killed."

"You have a half-brother?"

"_Had_ a half-brother. We'll get to him later."

Tony nodded.

"Sam had a twin. Sarah. Sarah Danielle David. I killed her."

She plopped back down on the couch and put her head in her hands.

"She was three weeks old. Her immune system was shot. I had a cold. That was the one time in _years _that I was sick, she caught it and died."

Tony moved to pull her into a hug, but she stopped him.

"Not yet. Not until I'm done telling you what I have to say. You may change your mind about wanting to comfort me."

Tony looked at her quizzically, but let her continue.

"After Sarah's death, my brother became more distant. He was already distant because if Tali's death, but it got worse." She got up and started pacing again, and she started to twiddle her fingers.

"I trusted him. I didn't think he was capable of what NCIS thought he did. When the truth came out, he needed to be punished." She turned back around and Tony could see the silent tears falling down her pale cheeks.

"He was going to kill another innocent person. I couldn't…I wouldn't let that happen. Not after he broke my trust." She started to get frantic.

"So I followed him one night, I heard him telling Gibbs that he killed Kate because he wanted to cause Gibbs pain. Because he reminded him of our father. I heard him tell him that he killed Kate, and he was going to kill Gibbs and make it look like a suicide. I don't remember doing it. I remember pulling my gun and then the shot and then seeing Ari fall to the floor." She was sobbing hysterically now. "I killed him. He had to die. I saw the pain he caused all of you, and I would be _damned_ if he would add to it."

Tony was shocked. He knew that when Ziva was framed by Iranian Intelligence, Special Agent _Slacks_, had mentioned that Ziva's brother was a HAMAS terrorist. He didn't know that the terrorist was Ari Haswari. He felt betrayed, hurt and angry. He trusted her!

"_She trusted him, and he betrayed her. He hurt her. He lied to her when it mattered most. She stood up for him against NCIS claiming his innocence. And he betrayed her." _He thought. As angry as he was at Ziva, he knew that he couldn't blame her. He too had experience with a family member who let you down.

Ziva stood in the middle of the room sobbing. He stood up, walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. They stood like that for a few moments, then Tony led them to the couch and sat down.

"You didn't leave." Ziva stated a few minutes after her sobs had subsided.

Tony didn't say anything. The room was silent with the exception of the rain that was panging on the roof.

"Why?" She asked.

"You looked like you needed a friend." Tony whispered.

"_Friend_? Even after what Ari did?" Tears starting to form in her eyes again.

"You had no control over what he did."

"But I did!" She insisted. "I was his control officer. If I had done my job, Kate would still be alive and Ari would too." She whispered.

"If he wanted to kill Kate, he would have found a way to do it, even if you followed him around wherever he went."

Ziva turned to face him. He looked like he meant what he was saying.

"You really think that?" She asked.

"I do." He pulled her into a hug. "You brought Kate justice, and I thank you for that."

_A/N: Sniff sniff So sad right? Ok, so that's the last chapter I have typed up for now. I should get the next one up soon. Here's what I'm thinking for the next time: Breakfast at the David's and Marshmallow-less Lucky Charms. Tell me what you think._

_Some people thought that Sammy was going to be Ziva's niece or sister. Thanks! Those people reacted exactly how I wanted them to! You guys all rock! Cable Addict._

_P.S. I'll try to write before break, but if I can't after break is over, I guarantee there will be new chapters._


	11. The Morning After

Ziva slowly opened her eyes

_A/N: Hey guys. Sorry I couldn't update. Here's the next chapter. I've got two more typed up so it's just a matter of reviewing. How about the number of total reviews I get, I put the next chapter up that many days faster? Lol. No, I probably will update tomorrow. To those who celebrate it, Happy (belated) Easter! This chapter has another song in it too. Sorry._

Ziva slowly opened her eyes. The previous nights conversation played through her mind. She was surprised at how well Tony had taken to the fact that Ari was her brother. They had both fallen asleep on the couch, and when they woke up again, Ziva had insisted that the roads would be slick due to the rain and that the fact that it was so early in the morning, that Tony should just stay. He, of course, agreed.

The only thing she didn't remember, was how she ended up in her own bed.

"_Oh well, it doesn't matter." _She thought.

Ziva got up, made her bed, and then walked into the kitchen to get her water bottle.

When she walked past her couch, she saw the sleeping form of Tony DiNozzo. Smiling, she walked around to the other side of the couch where his head lay. His hair was all spiked up, which gave him the look of a porcupig? No, a porcuswine? No, a porcupine. Yes, porcupine, that's the right word. She couldn't help but chuckle as she thought back to her first official day at NCIS.

"_He'll probably be just as horrified as I am, Agent DiNozzo."_

Ziva bent down and placed a kiss on Tony's forehead. He stirred in his sleep and muttered something that sounded a lot like "Sweetcheeks." She smirked, turned and walked back into her bedroom. On the way down the hall, she stopped outside of Sam's bedroom door and opened it a crack. She smiled as she saw the sleeping form of her daughter in her bed. Ziva closed the door and continued to tiptoe back into her room where she silently changed her clothes.

Tony woke up to a mechanical whirring sound. He stood up and instinctively reached for his gun. He crept down the hallway, stopping in front of Sam's bedroom door. He opened it and smiled as he saw the little girl in her bed. Little girl. Ziva's little girl. His partner, Ziva David's little girl. It was a shock, finding out that Ziva David "Mossad Ninja Warrior" had a daughter. Two actually.

He shook those thoughts out of his head and continued down the hallway.

He stopped in front of what Tony assumed was the master bedroom. He turned the doorknob, and silently pushed the door open.

"Incompatible, it don't matter though / Cuz someone's bound to hear my cry / Speak out if you do / You're not easy to find / Is it possible Mr. Loveable / Is already in my life? / Right in front of me / Or maybe you're in disguise / Who doesn't long for someone to hold / Who knows how to love you without being told / Somebody tell me why I'm on my own / If there's a soulmate for everyone / Here we are again, circles never end / How do I find the perfect fit / There's enough for everyone / But I'm still waiting in line / Who doesn't long for someone to hold / Who knows how to love you without being told / Somebody tell me why I'm on my own / If there's a soulmate for everyone / If there's a soulmate for everyone / Most relationships seem so transitory / They're all good but not the permanent one / Who doesn't long for someone to hold / Who knows how to love you without being told / Somebody tell me why I'm on my own / If there's a soulmate for everyone / Who doesn't long for someone to hold / Who knows how to love you without being told / Somebody tell me why I'm on my own / If there's a soulmate for everyone / If there's a soulmate for everyone."

Ziva was running on the treadmill. Tony sighed and re-holstered his weapon.

"You know, I don't think someone who just got shot should be doing that."

She didn't make any sign that she had heard him so he repeated what he had just said, but louder.

"I don't think your doctor would approve of you doing this!"

She still didn't hear him.

He sighed and walked over by the treadmill. She noticed him and paused her ipod.

"Good morning." She said brightly.

"Morning." He returned. "I don't think your doctor would approve of you running like Road Runner."

"The little bird yes?" She asked, smiling brightly.

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"I know some American culture Tony. I'm not _that_ retarded." She said scoffing.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Is Sam a fan of Wile E. Coyote?"

"Road Runner. She likes the "mheep-mheep" sound he makes." She said smiling. "And as for running, at least I'm not running outside. You should go; Gibbs might call at any time."

"Nope, he won't." He replied smugly.

"How do you know?" She questioned.

"It's a traumatizing time for us Zee-vah."

She looked at him questionably.

"A member of Leroy Jethro Gibbs' team just got shot." He explained in mock hurt, putting a hand over his heart and bowing his head.

"Grazed." She automatically corrected.

"Shot, grazed, whatever!" He said smiling. "Members of the Boss' team get to take today off."

"Really?" She asked, skeptically.

"Maybe." He gave her one of his "DiNozzo smiles."

"You do know, Tony, that that smile has little to no affect on me."

"Really?" He asked, a hint of hurt in his voice.

"Maybe." She said, a hint of teasing in her voice. "I'm going to take a shower. You're welcome to stay here for breakfast." She started walking towards the door. Tony started to follow, until she stopped dead in her tracks. "A _solo_ shower, DiNozzo."

She heard a whispered "Damn" before she left the room, smirking.

_A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. The next one should be up soon. The song Ziva was listening/singing to was another Natasha Bedingfield song called "Soulmate." I just thought that it was fitting for Tiva. Whenever I listen to it, I think of them. You know the drill…_


	12. Proper Introductions

"Time to wake up Silly Sammy

"Time to wake up Silly Sammy." Ziva said in a sing-songy voice.

"Five more minutes Mommy." Sam said sleepily.

"No can do Samantha Grace. Mommy has to stay home all day today, so that's twenty-four hours of Sammy and Mommy time."

Sam rolled over, buried her head in her pillow and pulled the covers up over her head.

"I can't wait for the teenage years." Ziva said sarcastically.

"Sam, if you don't wake up now, I'm going to have to tickle you." At this, Sam sat up, a smile on her face.

"You wouldn't do that, would you Mommy?" She looked at her, pouting slightly.

"Sammy, that look doesn't work on me. You know that." Ziva scolded lightly.

"I had to try." Sam said as she swung her legs out of bed.

"I'll make pancakes. Do you think you can dress yourself?"

"Yup."

"And remember to make your bed."

"I will Mommy."

Ziva smiled as she walked out of her daughter's bedroom, shutting the door as she did.

"Did I hear 'pancakes' mentioned?" Tony asked as Ziva came into the living room.

"Maybe. But she'll probably end up eating Lucky Charms. Stupid leprechaun."

Tony laughed at this comment.

"It's not funny Tony! The little man is encouraging children to eat marshmallows for breakfast!"

"But Ziva, they're "Magically Delicious!" He said in his best leprechaun voice.

"What are you Turkish? That was the _worst _Irish accent that I have _ever_ heard in my _entire_ life!"

"Well, I'm no Sean Connery."

"You got that right."

There was a moment of silence between the two, who were smiling at each other, before Sam came bounding into the living room.

"Good morning Special Agent DiNozzo."

"Good morning Samantha, and please, call me Tony." He said extending his hand.

"Ok, Tony," She said taking it. "But only if _you _call _me _Sam."

Tony chuckled. "Ok _Sam_."

Sam smiled. "So you work with my Mommy?"

Tony looked over at Ziva, who raised an eyebrow that said "You can answer her."

"Yes I do."

"You're Mossad officer working at NCIS too?" Sam asked, a look of confusion on the young girls face.

"No, I'm just NCIS."

"What does NCIS stand for again?"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service."

"You're like the FBI and the CSI's then?" She asked.

"Kind of. But we're better."

Sam giggled.

"What?" Tony asked looking mock hurt.

"You have your own TV show then?"

"No, but not all cops have their own show." Tony said.

"I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right." He turns to look at Ziva, who was in the kitchen making pancakes, "How old did you say she is?"

"She'll be four in April. Why?"

"No reason." He said turning back to look at Sam, who's smiling devilishly.

"Mommy?" Sam asked.

"What Silly Sammy?"  
"Can we watch Cinderella later?"

"I don't see why not." Ziva responded smiling.

"Yes!" Sam said, running back into her bedroom.

Sam came back into the living room seconds later with a DVD in her little hand.

"Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, and Finding Nemo too please, Mommy?" She asked pouting.

Ziva looked at her daughter, sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Yay!" Sam shrieked.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden increase of volume.

"Sam!" Ziva hissed.

Sam snapped her head towards her mother.

"Some people haven't had there morning coffee yet." Ziva said, tipping her head towards Tony.

"Oops. Sorry Tony."

"It's ok Sam." He turned his attention to Ziva. "Do you have any coffee by any chance Zee-_vah_?"

"Yup." She said, holding up her coffee cup. "You want some?"

"Yeah." Tony said in a "duh" toned voice.

Ziva walked out into the living room with two mugs of coffee. "Here ya go." She said as she handed him a mug, their fingers brushing up against each others as she gave her partner his mug.

"Thanks." He said, their eyes not breaking contact.

"No problem."

"Mommy?" The innocent voice of the not yet four year old broke their moment.

"Hmm?" Ziva asked, reluctantly averting her eyes.

"Can I just have Lucky Charms?"

Ziva sighed and gave Tony an "I told you so" look and said, "Sure Sam. Can you get them your self?"

"Yup." And with that, Sam bounded out of the living room and into the kitchen.

"So…" Ziva began.

"So…"

They were interrupted by a sound in the kitchen. Ziva ran in and Tony heard an exasperated sigh. He got off the couch and walked into the kitchen.

Ziva was on the floor with a dustpan and hand held broom, and Sam was sitting on the counter apologizing.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I couldn't get the box." Sam explained.

Tony looked down on the floor and saw that there were Lucky Charms all over the floor. There were no marshmallows in the mess though.

"I thought Lucky Charms had those itty-bitty little marshmallows in them."

"They do." Sam piped up.

"Then where are they?" Tony challenged.

Ziva turned around to look at her daughter and Sam bit her lip.

"Samantha Grace David," Ziva addressed the little girl who was now swinging her legs, "did you go through and eat all the marshmallows from the box?"

"Umm…" She said, glancing around the kitchen, "maybe?"

Ziva sighed, trying her best to suppress her smile. "Get down here and finish cleaning these cereal bits up while I check on the pancakes."

"Ok Mommy." She said, jumping off the counter.

_A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I especially liked the marshmallow bits. That came to me while I was eating (can you guess) Lucky Charms. By the way, I don't own NCIS, Lucky Charms, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid or Finding Nemo. The only thing I do own in this fic is Sam and the story line, plot, (are those the same things?) dialog and the hope for Tiva romance. Sighs. Please review! Also, that bit about NCIS not having their own show, I didn't realize that I wrote that until I was halfway through. I was laughing. I didn't purposely do that._


	13. Dinner Invitation

Roughly 436 minutes later, the two David's were sleeping and DiNozzo was sitting in the armchair popping popcorn into his mouth, watching the credits roll.

He averted his gaze over to the loveseat where Ziva and Sam were asleep. Chuckling to himself, he pulled out his cell phone and snapped a picture.

Ziva stirred.

"Good afternoon Sleeping Beauty." He whispered.

"Good afternoon Prince Charming." She whispered back.

They smiled at each other for several seconds before Sam stirred. Ziva held her breath as her daughter settled back into her deep slumber. She stood up, picked the little girl up off the couch and headed down the hallway. Tony stood up and followed, just to see her struggling to open the door.

"Here, let me help you." He opened Sam's bedroom door.

"Thanks."

"Sure thing."

He watched as his partner laid her little girl in her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She brushed the stray hairs out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. She silently walked back over to him and closed the door.

"Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?"

"I don't know. Are you going to have anything?" He asked.

"Yeah. I think I'm going to get some coffee." She said as she walked back into the kitchen.

"How come I've never seen Sam before?" Tony asked, accepting the cup Ziva gave him.

"Jen always had her."

"So when I was coming over?"  
"She was at Jen's. Yup."

"Where does she go…?"

"When I'm at work?"

"Yeah."

"She stays with Naomi, Jenny's housekeeper."

"Oh. Ok."

"Yeah."

"Does Gibbs know about Sam?"

"NO! And he doesn't need to know, ok?"

"Ok, ok. I won't say anything the next time I see him."

"Good. Thanks."

"Yup."

There was silence between the two for several moments.

"Hey do you want to stay for…" Ziva began, but was cut off by Tony's cell phone ringing.

"DiNozzo." He said answering. "Yup, I got it. Yeah. I'll be there in 10. See you then Boss."

Tony flipped his phone shut and sighed.

"Case?" Ziva asked, disappointed.

"Yeah." He answered her, just as disappointed.

He grabbed his coat from the back of the armchair in the living room and headed towards the front door.

"Hey Tony?" Ziva called after him.

"Yeah Zee-vah?"

"If you want, when Gibbs lets you go, maybe you can come back here? I'm making pasta for dinner tonight. Maybe you'd like to join us?"

Tony studied her facial futures for a moment, then said, "Sure. I guess I'll see you when I see you Officer David."

Ziva smiled. "Likewise Agent DiNozzo."

_A/N: Sorry it's so short, I needed to stop her before I start a new scenario. You know the drill. (That button is begging to be pushed.) Lol. CA. OH! Scenes are on tonight! I'm gonna tape them on my camera, anyone who wants a copy, e-mail me and I'll e-mail them to you._


	14. The Case

A/N: Hey, thanks for waiting

_A/N: Hey, thanks for waiting. I'm sorry that I couldn't update sooner. I am still a student (as much as I wish I wasn't) and school does come first (unfortunately). So here you go! :-)_

"You're late DiNozzo." Was the first thing out of Gibbs' mouth.

"Yeah, I know Boss." That comment was met with a slap to the back of his head.

"And your tie's on backwards." Gibbs added as he left the bullpen.

"Did you change in your car Tony?" McGee asked as he curiously looked at the older agent, who was retying his tie.

"Maybe I did McCurious, why do you care?"

"I don't. I was just wondering." McGee said.

"So what do we got McGee?" Tony asked.

"Wha?"

"The case! What do we have?"

"Oh. Dead Lieutenant."

"Where?"  
"Anacostia Park."

"That's like…"

"Yup. Just across the river." McGee said.

"Sweet."

"Sweet? Why's that Tony? You have a date tonight?" McGee asked as he grabbed his gear.

"I am having dinner with a _very _beautiful woman tonight McGee." Tony said smugly.

"Congratulations DiNozzo, now grab your gear, Gibbs went to get Ducky and he'll be back up here in…"  
"DiNozzo! Are you ready yet?" Came Gibbs' shout.

"Yeah Boss! All set."

"Then get your ass moving!" Gibbs said as he tossed Tony the keys, "And gas the truck."

"Sure thing Boss."

--

"ID says that this is Lieutenant Addison Martin."

"Yes, but as you can see, Timothy, we will have to identify this poor woman by dental records."

A badly decomposed body of a female, dressed in a Lieutenant's uniform had washed up on the bank of the Anacostia River.

"What's the COD Duck?" Gibbs asked, coming up behind him.

"Well I can't be sure until we bring her home, but blunt force trauma to the back of the head seems to be the cause of this young woman's demise."

"TOD?" Gibbs asked.

"Due to her being in the river, I can't be sure. I apologize that I can't be of more help Jethro." Ducky said.

"It's not your fault Duck." Gibbs said as he walked away.

"The gurney Mr. Palmer!"

"Yes Doctor."

--

"According to her boyfriend, Addison Martin disappeared October 17th 2007, after visiting her mother at Washington DC Health& Hospital." Abby told Gibbs.

Palmer entered Abby's lab.

"Doctor Mallard says that the dental records match. The woman downstairs is Lieutenant Addison Martin."

"Yes!" Abby squealed.

"What Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"This is the fastest ID we've ever had!"

Gibbs smiled.

Palmer coughed.

"What Jimmy?" Abby asked.

"Doctor Mallard also wanted me to give you Lieutenant Martin's personal effects." He said as he handed Abby the box that he was carrying.

"Thanks." Abby said.

"You're welcome." Palmer said as he left the room.

"Why was Lieutenant Martin's mother in the hospital Abs?"

"She had a stroke." Abby answered promptly.

"See if you can pull the surveillance footage from the hospital." Gibbs said as he started to leave the lab.

"McGee called the hospital to see if they would hand it over willingly, they told him to get a warrant. So he's trying to get one now Boss." Tony said as he entered the lab. "He's having a bit of trouble." He added smirking.

"You just left him up there DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Well yeah Boss. There wasn't anything that I could do to help him with that."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"I talked to the mother Boss. She said that when her daughter visited her in the hospital, she was the happiest that she'd seen her in a long time. So I think we can rule out her having any problems at work."

"That's good work Tony." Gibbs said.

"Thank you Boss."

"Warrant came through." McGee said as he strode into the room. "The tapes will be here in a matter of minutes. They're digitally taped." He added.

"The mother said she left around 2300." Tony said.

"Ok. Abs, when you get the tapes…"

"Start searching at roughly 2300 sir?"

Gibbs smirked. He taught his team well. He walked back over to Abby and kissed her cheek. "You got it Abs."

--

They were all back up at the bullpen when a voice called from somewhere above them.

"Special Agent DiNozzo may I have a word?"

Tony, McGee and Gibbs looked up at the balcony and saw Jenny standing at the railing.

"This isn't another undercover op is it Jen?" Gibbs asked.

"No it isn't Jethro." She answered.

Tony looked at Gibbs expectantly.

"You heard her DiNozzo. What are you waiting for? Get your ass up there."

"Yes Boss." Tony said as he jumped out of his chair and ran up the stairs.

Gibbs smirked as he almost ran into another agent as he rounded the corner up the stairs.


	15. Meeting with Jen and a Murder Suspect

"What's this about Director

"What's this about Director?" Tony asked as both he and Jen were back in her office.

"I heard that you were over at Ziva's yesterday." She began. "How'd that go?"

"Are you asking me if she told me about Sam?" Tony asked.

Jen nodded.

"Well seeing as I know about her, I guess she did tell me."

"No need to be a smartass Agent DiNozzo." Jen said smiling.

"Sorry Director." He replied grinning.

"So how'd it go?" She asked, a moment later.

"It went good. I mean, as good as it can go when telling a co-worker that you were raped."

"Did she tell you about…"

"Sarah?"

Jen nodded.

"Yeah. And about how she blames herself for her death."

"Yes. She always did blame herself for that. She probably always will." Jen sighed and rubbed her temples. "What else did she tell you?"  
"She told me about Cairo. About how long you both were held and how long you both held up under interrogation."

"She always was disappointed that she lasted only eight days." Jen said sighing, putting an emphasis on the word 'only.'

"Yeah. I noticed that." He said grinning.

"So do you have any plans tonight?" Jen asked with a 'knowing' look on her face. Eerily similar to the ones Gibbs wears.

"Yeah. Ziva invited me over to dinner."

"Really?" She asked, smirking.

"You've been spending to much time with the Boss."

"He was my boss at one time too, Agent DiNozzo." Jen said, with a grin on her face.

"I know. And yet, you're _his_ boss." Just then Tony's cell rang. "DiNozzo," He answered as he lifted it up to his ear. "Good job Abs. I'll grab McGoo and the boss and we'll be right down." He turned back to Jen, "Got to go Jenny, bad guys to catch, David's to eat dinner with. Gonna be a busy day." And he ran out of the office leaving Jen to roll her eyes.

--

"I watched the tapes and found this." Abby said as she hit a few buttons on her keyboard. A doctor and Lieutenant Martin appeared on the plasma.

"What are they saying Abs?" Gibbs asked as he watched the two figures argue.

"She's saying, 'I saw what you did. You could have saved him. That was deliberate malpractice Doctor Greene. You gave that man way too much morphine.' And he's saying 'I don't know what you think you saw Ma'am, but I can assure you that there is no malpractice going on in this hospital. And seeing as I am the doctor, I can assure you that I gave him the right amount."

Abby hits a few more buttons and the tape speeds up.

"They exchange _more _ugly words, and then…" She hits another button and it plays in normal speed.

The team watches as Doctor Greene picks up an empty metal tray and hits Lieutenant Martin over the head. She falls to the floor and even on the video, you can see the blood starting to form around her head.

The phone in Abby's lab begins to ring.

"Hold on a moment." She said as she makes her way over to the desk. "Abby Sciuto, NCIS Forensics."

Abby listened for a moment before, "Ok. Got it Duck man." Then hung up.

"Ducky says that Lieutenant Martin drowned."

"But we just saw her get hit over the head." McGee said confused.

"May I Gibbs?" Abby asked, walking back over to the men.

"Sure Abs." Gibbs said.

Abby came up and stood directly in front of McGee and smacked the back of his head.

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

"She was knocked unconscious! Doctor Greene must have panicked and dumped her body into the river! It's spitting distance from the hospital! Plus seeing as he _is _a doctor and it _is_ a hospital, he could easily put her body into a body bag to get it out of the hospital without being suspicious!" Abby exclaimed, before taking a deep breath and continuing, "I watched the whole tape and she threatened to go to the supervisor and report what she saw. I hacked into the hospital records and found that a Horace Peters, died that night. I think that good old Horace, may be the _he _Martin is referring to."

"How'd he die Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"That's just it Gibbs, he came in for an x-ray and to have someone treat his stitches that got infected, and he came out in a body bag! Doctor Greene offered to take his case! I smell something hinky."

"Conspiracy at a hospital? Sounds like a great plot for Thom E. Gemcity's next book." Tony said as they made their way back to the elevator.

"Shut up Tony."


	16. Confession

"We have you on tape hitting Lieutenant Martin over the head

"We have you on tape hitting Lieutenant Martin over the head!" Gibbs roared at the man sitting across from him.

Doctor Patrick Greene was a man in his mid-forties. He was balding and wore glasses. What hair he _did_ have left was brown with streaks of grey.

Gibbs' blue eyed glare was met with an equally icy grey glare.

"I told you Special Agent Gibbs, I know nothing of your dead Lieutenant!"

"Horace Peters." Gibbs hissed as he sat down in the chair across from Greene.

"Who?"

"The man you murdered."

"So now I murdered a man too? This is absurd Agent Gibbs!"

"Is it?"

"Yes! Now my poker buddy is a lawyer. I could call him down here and have him set this thing out!"

--

"Mrs. Greene?" McGee asked a woman who looked to be in her late thirties or early forties.

"Yes?" She answered in a small voice.

"Special Agent Timothy McGee." McGee said as he flashed his ID and badge. "And this is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." He said as he gestured to Tony, who was standing behind him. "We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions."

"Sure." She seemed to visibly relax a bit.

"Do you know a Horace Peters?" Tony asked.

"Yes." She replied.

"How do you know him?" McGee asked.

"He used to play poker with my husband."

"Used to?" Tony asked.

"He moved."

"Do you know where he moved to?" McGee asked.

"Um…Seattle I think it was. What's this about?"

"Does your husband play poker with anyone else?" Tony questioned.

"Yes."

"Can we have their names?" Tony questioned again.

"Well there's Patrick and Horace, Greg, Randall and Alex."

"Last names?" McGee asked politely.

"Um… my husband, Peters, Ryan, Jackson and Spencer."

"And where can we reach them?" Tony asked.

"Well, Greg went back to Ohio. I have Alex and Randall's phone numbers. Let me go get them for you."

"Thank you Mrs. Greene."

--

"Randall Jackson." Randall said as he stuck his hand out to Gibbs. "I'm Patrick's lawyer."

Gibbs gave him his classic 'Gibbs' stare and Randall slowly put his hand down.

"What are you holding my client on?"

Gibbs turned around and faced the monitor that hung on the wall of the interrogation room. He picked up the remote, clicked the button and the video of Greene and Martin came onto the screen.

The three men watched in silence for a moment before Gibbs spoke.

"We have her body down in autopsy."

Randall turned to look at Patrick for a minute before saying, "Can I have a few minutes alone with my client, Special Agent Gibbs?"

--

"Boss, Greene plays poker with an Alex Spencer, Randall Jackson, Greg Ryan and Horace Peters." McGee said into the phone.

"_That's good work McGee. See if you can find Spencer, Ryan and bring them back here."_

"That's the thing Boss. Mrs. Greene says that Horace Peters moved to Seattle, and we know that's not true because he's with Ducky right now…"

"_Today McGee!"_

"She also said that Greg Ryan moved back to Ohio."

McGee heard a click and then silence.

"Boss?"

--

"You didn't mention that you played poker together." Gibbs yelled.

"Excuse me? Is this relevant?" Randall yelled back, as he stood up.

"Sit." Gibbs growled in a calm voice.

Randall obliged. "I'll ask again," he began, "Is this relevant?"

"I'll ask the questions here Mr. Jackson." Gibbs snapped.

"Then ask!"

"Where Greg Ryan?"

Patrick instantly paled.

"He moved back to Ohio Special Agent Gibbs." Patrick answered.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yes."

"I don't like being lied to Mr. Greene. I have an agent, she was trained by Mossad, I could call her in here to get the truth out of you." Gibbs made to pull out his phone. "Oh! I forgot, she also got shot yesterday, so she may be a little irritable today." He flipped his phone open.

"Really! He's in Ohio!" Randall exclaimed. "I'll call him!" He also made to pull out his phone, but was stopped when Patrick put his hand on his jacket, stopping him from reaching his phone.

"Wait. There's no need to call him."

"And why's that?"

Patrick was silent.

"Our forensic scientist traced bank records, credit card receipts, phone records, Gregory Ryan was last heard from October 14th. That's three days before Horace Peters checked into the hospital to get his x-ray and stitched treated! Do you want to take a guess who his doctor was Mr. Jackson?" Gibbs turned his icy glare to the lawyer.

"What the hell is going on Patrick?"

"What happened the 14th Patrick?" Gibbs asked coolly.

Patrick turned his head to look at Randall, who nodded.

Patrick turned back to face Gibbs and took a deep breath. "After Randy went home, Me, Horace and Ryan got into a fight."

"About what?" Gibbs asked.

"Money. Ryan wasn't putting his fair share into the pool."

"What happened?" Gibbs asked.

"We fought. Horace had Ryan pinned and…" He trailed off.

"Patrick, what did you do?" Randall asked.

"I picked up the shovel, and I tried to hit him, but I hit Horace's arm instead and it started bleeding. Then I hit again and I got Ryan…" He looked down so that the other two men wouldn't see the tears come out of his eyes.

"Where's Ryan's body?" Randall asked.

Patrick was silent once more.

"Credit card receipts say that you bought a few hundred dollars worth of wood." Gibbs said.

"The deck?" Randall said. "You buried him under the deck?" He stood up and ran his hands through his hair.

"Horace Peters?"

"He came to the hospital that night," Patrick began, still looking down, "said he was going to turn himself in and that I should do the same thing. I couldn't let him go! I would have lost my practice!"

"Addison Martin?" Gibbs asked.

"Who?" Patrick asked looking up, his face streaked with tears.

"Lieutenant Addison Martin. The woman you hit over the head?"

"Good God Patrick! You killed a woman too? A Lieutenant?"

"I had to! She saw me treating Horace! She knew that I gave him too much morphine! She was going to tell! I couldn't let her go! I just wanted to knock her out! I didn't mean to kill her!" At this point Patrick was in hysterics. "I didn't mean to kill her." He repeated in a whisper.

"She was still breathing when you dumped her body into the river. She drowned."

"What?" Patrick whispered, looking up.

"The blow to the head didn't kill Lieutenant Martin, the dump into the river did." And with that, Gibbs gathered his things, stood up and left the room.


	17. Puppy Tags

_A/N: Hahaha. I had this uploaded last night and when I logged into my e-mail, I didn't see any reviews. I was like "Huh? Did it suck that bad?" Then I realized that I didn't post it! Major blonde moment people. Anyway, enjoy._

"So what are you doing tonight McGee?" Tony asked as he finished up the last bit of paperwork for the day.

"Nothing much. I think maybe I'll just go home and write a little bit." McGee instantly regretted saying this.

"Ah. Speaking of 'writing', what have _Amy_ and _McGregor_ and Agent _Tibbs_ and Director _Jess_ been up to? What about Pimmy Jalmer? Oh! And my two favorite characters Mossad Officer _Lisa_ and Agent _Tommy_. What have _they_ been doing?"

"Nothing Tony. _Tommy _and _Lisa_ haven't been up to anything. But speaking of _Lisa_, I wonder how _Ziva's_ been doing."

"She's fine." Tony said, maybe a little too quickly.

"How do you know _that_ DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he came into the bullpen.

"I called her this morning Boss." He replied with out missing a beat. He wasn't really lying, he did call Ziva on his way to work to see if she needed anything for when she made dinner.

"So, McGee?" Tony began, trying to change the topic of conversation with out being to obvious.

"What DiNozzo?" McGee asked, glancing suspiciously over at the Senior Agent.

"Are you going to work the 'conspiracy at a hospital' plot into your next book? Cuz if you do, I want a special mention." He said smiling.

"I don't know Tony. Can we please drop it?" McGee snapped.

"Sure thing Thom." He said as he turned off the light on his desk.

"Good night Boss. Night Thom E. Boy." He called over his shoulder as he made his way to the elevator.

--

Tony raised his fist, preparing to knock on Ziva's door, but a noise from inside made him bring his fist back down.

--

"Silly Sammy?" Ziva called.

"Yes Ima?" Sam said as she ran into the living room.

"Are you done cleaning your room?"

"It was already clean Mommy."

"Are you dressed?"

"Yes I am Mommy." Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Good girl."

"Who's coming over again Mommy?"

"Tony." Ziva responded as she stirred the pasta sauce.

"Do you like him?" Sam asked, smirking.

Ziva turned around and looked at her smirking daughter. _"Three year olds don't smirk!" _She thought.

"He's my partner Sam, of course I like him."

"That's not what I meant!" Sam whined.

"Well that's all you're going to get." She replied smiling triumphantly.

"Mommy!" Sam started, her trademark pout already starting to form on her small face.

Ziva was saved from delivering a scold by the door bell ringing.

"I'll get it!" Sam screeched, running for the door.

"Samantha! You aren't supposed to answer the door by yourself!" Ziva called after the three- year-old. But Sam had already pulled a chair up to the peephole and was looking out.

"It's Tony!" Sam yelled over her shoulder as she jumped off the chair and started to open the door.

--

"_Silly Sammy?" _He heard Ziva call.

"_Yes Ima?"_

"_Are you done cleaning your room?"  
"It was already clean Mommy."  
"Are you dressed?"_

"_Yes I am Mommy."_

"_Good girl."_

The conversation quieted down for a few moments, but Tony could have sworn that he heard his name mentioned. He finally gave up on trying to eavesdrop on the two David's and knocked.

"_I'll get it!"_

Tony chuckled. Sam was just like Ziva at times. They shared the same boldness. He admired that about his partner.

"_Samantha! You aren't supposed to answer the door by yourself!"_

Tony heard a scraping noise, and saw the peephole go dark.

"_It's Tony!"_

Tony stepped back as the door started to open.

--

"Hi Tony." A grinning Sam greeted.

"Hi Sam. Hello Officer David." He said, smiling at Ziva.

"Good evening Agent DiNozzo." Ziva replied, smiling back.

Sam grabbed Tony by the hand and led him into the apartment.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, so don't get too involved in whatever you are going to do until then!" Ziva called after her daughter and partner.

"I won't Mommy!"

--

"What are these?" Tony asked.

"These," Sam said gesturing to the pile of dog tags on her bed, "are Mommy's puppy tags."

"I think you mean 'dog tags' Sam." Ziva said as she walked into her daughters' bed room. "Why are you showing Tony them anyway? I don't think he cares to see them."

"Oh yes, dog tags. I think they're neat Mommy. I just thought maybe Tony would like to see them too." Sam pouted.

"Yeah Zee-vah, can I see the dog tags? Please?" Tony looked at Sam and then back at Ziva. A pout was present on his face as well.

Ziva sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Yay!" Sam squealed. "Tell me the story again Mommy?" Sam begged.

"Sammy there isn't much to tell." Ziva said.

"Why does it look like it was broken off here?" Tony asked holding up a dog tag.

Ziva took it from him and examined it.

"Israeli dog tags are designed to be broken in half in case of an emergency."

"What kind of an emergency?" Tony asked.

"Death, capture, identification. Emergencies like that." She explained.

"This one's broken in half." Tony said holding up half of a dog tag.

"Yes. That one is from Cairo."

"Where's this one from again Mommy?" Sam asked, holding up a dog tag that wasn't broken in half.

"That one, Silly Sammy, is from Mommy's mission to the UK."

"The mission you had before you came to NCIS?" Tony asked.

"You _do_ pay attention." She said smiling.

"Of course I do Zee-vah." He responded, a smile plastered on his face too.

Sam slipped a chain with a tag on it around her neck and another one around Ziva's neck. "Is dinner ready yet Mommy? I'm starving!"


	18. Dinner, Names and Pictures

_A/N: Longest chapter so far. Enjoy._

Dinner was a success. Sam talked through most of it, telling Tony stories of what she and Ziva did on Ziva's days off, what Sam liked to do with Naomi when Ziva was at work, what she wanted to do when she was older and so on.

--

"Time for bed Silly Sammy." Ziva said after they had all finished eating.

"Five more minutes. Please Mommy." She pouted.

"Yeah, five more minutes, please Ziva?" Tony pouted.

"Unless you want to be the one who get's her up in the morning, I suggest you keep your mouth shut, Tony." She said in a joking tone of voice, but her face was serious.

Tony broke his pout. "Sorry Sam, I'm more afraid of your mom."

Sam sighed and stood up off of the floor. "Ok Mommy."  
"Go get your pajamas on and I'll come and read you a quick story."

A smile lit up the young girl's face, "Ok Mommy!" And she ran into her room.

Tony and Ziva both chuckled.

"She's a great kid. You must be proud."

"Varies from day to day."  
Tony looked a her, "Care to elaborate on that?"

"Well some days I just want to strangle her, but other days, I just want to hold her and never let go." She sighed, "If you ever have kids, you'll understand."

He stared at her for a moment, _God she was beautiful._

"Mommy?" Sam's voice came from her room.

"Coming Sam!" And Ziva got up off the floor and went to join her daughter in her room.

--

Tony sat and waited for Ziva to finish up with Sam when he heard giggling coming from the little girls room. Cautiously, he got up and walked over to the slightly open door. Ziva was sitting in the rocking chair with Sam in her lap, reading a book and acting out the different voices. Tony smiled at the interaction between mother and child. It was heartwarming seeing his partner, the Mossad Officer turned NCIS Agent, so comfortable with a child.

He snapped himself out of his reverie and walked back into the kitchen.

--

Tony was standing at the sink doing the dishes when Ziva came out of Sam's room.

"Tony DiNozzo doing dishes?" She asked, causing Tony to jump. "Let me get my camera!"

"Very funny Zee-vah. You scared the hell out of me!"

She laughed, "I'm sorry Tony." She went to stand next to him to help him.

"So, I didn't think 'Samantha' was a Hebrew name."

"Technically it's Aramaic. It means 'Listener.' I really wish she'd do that more often."  
Tony smiled.

"What about 'Ziva' what's that mean?"  
"Ziva is Hebrew for 'Splendor.'"

_Well that's fitting. _Tony thought.

"What about you? What does 'Tony' mean?"

"There isn't a meaning for 'Tony,' or 'Anthony' for that matter." He said smugly.

"How convenient."

"Why's that Ziva?" He asked, turning his head to look at her.

"It's just, I don't know, fitting, I suppose. That there isn't a meaning that goes with your name. Like I guess if they had to put a meaning next to 'Anthony' or 'Tony' on any website or book, it'd say 'Unique' would probably be the best way to describe you."

"Unique?"

"In the good way."

"Good way?"

"There isn't _one _word that I can use to describe you, Tony. I can say, 'childish' and 'kind' and 'caring' and 'intelligent' and 'funny' and 'attractive.' I can't just use one word to sum you up. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I get what you're saying Zee-vah."

"So what about me?"

"What about you what?"

"How would you describe me?"

"Well let's see," Tony sighed and looked over at Ziva, their eyes locking. "I'd say that you are 'strong,' 'smart,' exotic,' 'sexy,' 'understanding,'" She looked at him curiously. "Distant. You are defiantly distant."

"How am I 'understanding'?"

"You understood when you found out where I was when I was working the 'La Grenouille' case. And why I couldn't tell you where I was and what I was doing."

"I didn't understand though." She finished drying the plate that she had been holding and went to sit on the couch.

He quickly dried his hands and went to sit next to her.

"What?"

"You could have told me. About the assignment. You should have told me."

"Jen said…"  
"Jen would have understood. If she's as good of a friend as I consider her, she would have understood."

Tony looked at her face; her eyes expressed the most sadness he had ever seen any person ever show. "I'm sorry, you're right. But you kept a kid hidden."

"Yes, but I wasn't running in and out of the office every few minutes, leaving my co-workers to do my work for me! And I hid Sam to keep her safe and because if Gibbs knew about her, he wouldn't let me do some of the things I do now!" She stood up and started pacing.

"Sit down. Please?" He asked in desperation.

She sighed, but did as he asked.

"I see your point. You're right. I'm sorry Ziva."

She sighed. "I could never stay mad at you."

"Thank you."

"I have to trust that you have my back in the field."

"I'll always have your back Ziva. You know that right?"

"Yeah, Tony. I do."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Tony asked, "What was he like?"

"Hmm?"

"Ari. What was he like?"

Ziva instantly paled at the mention of her dead half-brother.

"You don't want to talk about him do you?"

"I do. He obviously meant a lot to you."

She sighed, "Stay here," And then walked down the hallway.

A few minutes she returned with a book. Her face was pale and full of sorrow and anger. She sat down next to Tony on the couch and opened it to a page near the middle.

"The Ari you knew, that was not the same Ari I knew. The Ari I knew was my hero. My big brother. When he had the gun fixed on Gibbs, I saw a look in his eyes that I had never seen before and it scared the hell out of me. And I knew then that you and Gibbs and everyone else were right about him. I was too naïve to see that he was a monster. I saw what I wanted to see. What I needed to see. I didn't want to loose another sibling, so I trusted my instincts and they were wrong. And because of my error in judgment, a young woman died."

They both looked down at the picture on the page. It was of Ari, Ziva and another young girl who Tony assumed was Tali all with their arms around each other, smiling at the camera.

"I trusted him with my life, Tali did too. Part of me is glad that she died before she got to see what her big brother did and part of me wonders that if she was still alive, maybe Ari wouldn't have done it."

She turned the page to a picture of a younger Ziva on Ari's shoulders.

"He promised us both that he'd always keep us safe, that he'd always be there for us, no matter what. And he kept that promise. To me at least. And what do I do to repay him? I put a bullet through his head!"

She took a deep breath to try to regain at least _some_ of her composure before adding, "I know that you won't understand how I could ever love such a monster, and I understand that. I loved Ari. I don't anymore."

"He made a mistake, that shouldn't ruin the relationship you had with him before…" He trailed off.

"He murdered a woman in cold blood?" Ziva asked. "Yes, you're right. That doesn't make a difference in the slightest!" They both took a deep breath and sat in silence for a few moments.

"I'm sorry. That was out of line."

"It's ok. I have no idea what you felt when you killed him and I never will."

She turned to face him and smiled weakly.

"Lucky you."

Ziva turned the page once more and they saw a picture of Ari holding Ziva upside down. Her two front teeth were missing.

Tony chuckled at the sight of the toothless Ziva.

"What?"

"You were a cute kid."

"Sam looked exactly like me and Tali did when we were babies."

"You got any pictures of them?"

"Yeah, do you want to see?"

"Sure." Tony said sitting up a little more.

Ziva walked over to the bookshelf that was next to the piano and took out another book. She had a smile on her face this time.

She sat down next to Tony and opened the book.

"She's really cute."  
"She looked just like Tali did."

Pictures of a younger Sam were on the pages of this book. Ziva turned the page to a picture of two baby girls in a crib.

"I wonder what she'd be like now." Ziva whispered.

"She'd be just like he sister."

"A handful?"  
Tony chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Ziva smiled. "She has her moments where's she's pure evil, other times, she's an angel."

"Just like her mother."

Ziva punched Tony on the arm.

"Hey! No need for violence!" He said as he rubbed his arm.

"Yeah? Tell that to Banks."

"Oh yeah, how's the gun shot?"

"Still hurts some." She looked at Tony's concerned face. "It's not terrible! It's _nothing_ compared to child birth."

He winced, and she turned the page.

A picture of a one year old glaring Sam looked back at them. She had a birthday hat on and a cupcake with a candle was in front of her. Ziva and Jen were standing behind her, smiling.

"She looks thrilled." Tony remarked sarcastically.

"She wanted to open presents first." Ziva explained.

"Ah. I see. I was the same way."

"No kidding!" She replied sarcastically.

"Sarcasm is the refuge of a shallow mind!"

"You do know that you are calling yourself shallow, right?"

Tony contemplated this for a moment before changing the subject. "Do you have any of your baby pictures?"

"Yeah," she flipped towards the back of the book and stopped at a picture of a small girl in a white dress. She had long dark brown hair and had the same facial expression that Sam had in the previous picture.

"You look thrilled too."

"I know. I never liked wearing dresses as a kid. You can't climb trees in a dress and you can't run in those shoes."

He chuckled. "I'll bet."

--

They stayed up for most of the night talking; Ziva shared stories about Sam's childhood and even some from her own.

"It's late, tomorrow's Sunday, you should just stay here."

"Miss David, is that begging I hear in your voice?"

"I'm not 'begging.' You can stay here if you want, otherwise, you can go home."

She stood up and put Sam's baby album back on the shelf and took the other one back into her bed room.  
"There's a pullout couch in the study. It's more comfortable than the couch."


	19. Waffles and Plans

A/N: Hi all! Remember me? So sorry that it took me so long to update. I've been SUPER busy with school. I'm ready for a vacation. (Hahaha) Anywho, here ya go. It's short, but (for now) I hope this quenches your thirst. HAHAHA! Wow. I need some professional help…

Ziva was right; the pullout couch in her study was more comfortable than her couch. Tony stood up and stretched. He heard Ziva in the kitchen, so he threw his jeans back on and silently slipped out of the room.

--

The radio was on and Ziva was bopping all around the kitchen with Sam on her hip, both of them still in their pajamas. He leaned against the wall and decided to watch them for a moment.

"_Last year she was nominated several awards including single, artist and album of the year, and won all of those plus more! This year, she's been nominated for a few more awards, but no wins. Yet. Nelly Furtado with Say it Right!"_

Tony watched with amusement as Ziva bounded around the kitchen in time with the music. She was 'singing' into a whisk and she would occasionally hand it to Sam who 'sang' into it.

The song ended and Tony stepped out of the shadows applauding, causing Ziva and Sam to turn around quickly. "Nelly Furtado may be hot, but you two have her beat."

Sam pushed herself out of Ziva's arms and slid down her mother's body before running over to Tony.

"Mommy's gonna make waffles!" She squealed, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the couch. "Wanna watch a movie with me?"

Tony glanced at Ziva who raised an eyebrow that gave him the 'okay.'

"Sure, why don't you go pick a movie?"

Sam ran back into her room and came back a moment later with a movie, a blanket and two stuffed animals of some sort.

"Spy Kids?" He laughed.

"What?" Sam asked, looking a little hurt.

"Did Mommy buy this for you?"

"No. Aunty Jenny did."

"Of course she did. There's no spy better than your mom and Aunty Jenny."

"Mommy's teaching me to be a spy kid too!" Sam said smiling brightly.

"That's cool. You're mommy's a really good spy."

Sam grinned.

Tony got up and went over to pop the DVD into the player. He turned back and saw that Sam was sitting on the couch with a blanket over her legs and a stuffed bear sitting on either side of her.

"This is Shalev," She gestured to the bear on the left, "and this is Doveva." She tapped the head of the bear on her right.

"Those are cool names." Tony was impressed, most kids named their bears 'Teddy' or 'Bear.'

"Shalev means 'quiet, peaceful, calm' and Doveva means 'talker; graceful.' They're Hebrew names." Ziva supplied from the kitchen.

"Thank you miss know-it-all."

Ziva rolled her eyes and brought in three plates and forks and set them down on the table in front of Tony and Sam. She went back into the kitchen and brought out the plate of still steaming waffles, syrup, butter and a bowl of fresh fruit.

"I can eat in here?" Sam asked.

"As long as you don't make a mess."

"I won't."

--

The movie played as they were eating, but they still talked. Sam told Tony and Ziva about the dreams that she had had the night before, which consisted of flying above the clouds and a giant rolling doughnut.

"Can we go to the park today Mommy?"  
"We'll see Silly Sammy."

"Can I bring my kite."

"Possibly."

Sam smiled and took another bite of her waffle.

"I have an idea."

"What?" Ziva asked.

"What we can do today."

"What is this 'idea'?"

He grinned. "It's a secret."

"Please Mommy?" Sam begged.

"I don't…" She started, but Tony cut her off.

"Come on Ziva! I'm your partner! Trust me! Please?" She looked at him and he pouted.

"Fine! But this better be good."

"Oh it will be. I promise."

_A/N: Hmmmm… What does 'good old DiNozzo' have planned? You know the drill…_


	20. The Surprise

A/N: Oh my fricken god

A/N: Oh my fricken god! I am sooooooooooooooooo sorry! I've been busy. I know that's not an excuse, but let me tell you this. I was sent undercover by my boss John Snider and I was ordered to seduce this guy named Jack Benson in order to get close to her mother Rachel Benson aka The Flamingo. The operation blew up in my face when I fell in love with Jack. What?! This story line has already been used you say?! Damn! Who stole my idea!? Haha. Ok. Truth time. School. A lot less interesting/intriguing, but that's my life. Sorry. (Notice that the initials are the same as the character's initials. Heh. I'm a genius, I know. In reality, I'm a loser. Plain and simple.)

Tony had left after the movie was over and went home to shower, change and grab a few things. He had told Ziva to pack sandwiches, drinks and a blanket.

About 45 minutes later, Tony knocked on Ziva's door and Sam answered it.

"I thought you weren't supposed to open the door by yourself?"

"Do you want me to shut it and call Mommy?" She asked innocently.

Tony stepped inside, scowling, and Sam closed the door, grinning.

Ziva's voice came from the other room, "Sammy why don't you grab your CD player and anything else you want to bring, before Tony get's back here."  
"I'm already here!" He yelled to her.

She walked into the living room, almost getting knocked down by Sam who was making a mad dash for her room, wearing a dark green tank top and skinny jeans

"My my Miss David, aren't we looking especially hot today?" He grinned.

She raised an eyebrow, cocked her head slightly and gave him a seductive smile.

He cocked his head to the other side and raised an eyebrow back.

Sam strode into the room fiddling with something in her small backpack.

"Mommy do we have any batteries?"  
Ziva snapped herself back into reality.

"In the drawer over there." She pointed to a drawer in the kitchen.

Sam started walking over in the direction that her mother pointed out. "Thanks Ima."

"You're welcome. Hey Tony?"  
"Yes Zee-vah?"

"Whose car are we taking to this 'secret place'?

"Yours I suppose."

"Good." She walked over to the closet and pulled out a car seat. "You ready to go Sam?"

"Almost." She pushed the final battery into the back of her CD player. "Ok." She started walking towards the front door.

Ziva handed the car seat to Tony. "Can you hold this for a second?"

"Yeah sure." He took it from her and she went into the kitchen, picked a basket up off the table and walked back over tot the door.

"Do you have a jacket Sam?" Ziva asked.

"No Mommy, where is it?"

"It's in the closet. Can you get mine too?"

Sam nodded, opened the closet and tried to pull the two jackets off of their hangers.

"Here," Tony put the car seat down on the floor, walked over and pulled the jackets off of their hangers.

"Thank you Tony." Ziva stared at him.

"What? I can be a gentleman when I want to be."

--

After 10 or so minutes of Tony and Ziva arguing about how to put the car seat in, and another 5 minutes deciding who would drive, they were finally on their way.

Sam was sitting in the back with her headphones on, humming along to a song, Ziva sat sulking in the passengers seat and Tony was sitting in the drivers seat with a smug, triumphant smirk on his face.

"No need to goat."

"I think you mean _gloat_ Zee-vah."

"One letter off!"

"Still the wrong word. A goat is an animal that eats almost anything."  
"Just like you!"

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that."

"You do that." She lightly slapped his cheek as she turned around to check on Sam.

"So your daughter wants to be an astronomer?"

"I guess so. She has always had a fascination with the stars and planets."  
"Impressive."

"How so?"

"Well, it's just that most kids her age want to be princesses or cops or firefighters. Her knowing what she wants to be when she's older at the age of three? That's amazing."  
Ziva smiled. "She has always been a smart one. She told me a few months ago what college she wants to go to."

"And which college is that?"

"Do you want to take a guess?"

"Ahhhh… Harvard?"

"No. She wants to go to MIT."

"She wants to be a McGeek?"

"It's a good school!"  
"And how do you know that?"  
"When she told me, I looked into it, it is a great school! I figure if I start saving up, I will be able to help her into it if she does not get a scholarship."

Tony stared at her, his mouth slightly agape.

"What?"

"You're an excellent mother, if you're already thinking about your three-year-olds college funds."

Ziva chuckled. "Yeah, well, the moment you look away, they're full grown."

Tony looked at her.

"My mother died shortly Tali was born. I kind of helped raise her." She sighed and looked out the window. "She had just gotten a scholarship for her piano playing skills. We were celebrating, that's why we were out."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Tali's a beautiful name."  
Ziva smiled. "It belonged to a beautiful person."

--

About 45 minutes later the car came to a stop. Ziva turned and looked at him quizzically.

"It's about a five minute walk that way." He tilted his head to show the direction.

Tony got the basket and a plastic bag out of the trunk and handed the basket to Ziva.

"Thank you."

"Yup."

"What's in the bag?" She stood on her tiptoes trying to get a look in the bag.

"Ah, ah, ah." He scolded. "You will just have to wait and see Zee-vah."

She glared at him, but realized that he wasn't going to fold. She sighed and took Sam's hand.

"Mommy!" She whined. "I'm a big girl! I can walk by myself."

"Very well sweetheart." She mumbled reluctantly.

Sam smiled triumphantly and grabbed her kite, handed it to Ziva and ran ahead of the adults.

--

5 minutes later the trio was trekking over a large hill.

"How much farther?" Sam asked for the seventh time.

"Just over the top of the hill." Was Tony's seventh answer. He turned and grinned at Ziva.

Ziva was surprised. Tony was patient with Sam. She wouldn't have expected this from him. McGee and maybe Gibbs, but Tony was rarely patient with suspects and witnesses. It was slightly out of character for him.

"Awesome!" Sam shrieked.

Tony and Ziva were standing next to her in a moment of seconds.

"It's beautiful." Ziva whispered breathlessly.

They were looking down into the valley between several hills. There was a small lake surrounded by small groups of trees.

"It's just a little place a buddy of mine told me about." He smirked.

Sam started running down the hill, tripping occasionally only to giggle and stand back up, repeating the process.

Tony and Ziva made their way slowly down the hill laughing at Sam.

"Come on! Hurry up!" Sam giggled.

"We're going as fast as our old legs will take us kid!" Tony called down to her.

"_Old legs_?" Ziva challenged. "Your legs may be old, but mine are not."

"Sorry to tell you 'Mommy,' but your legs are old."

"Not as old as yours!" She challenged again.

"Touché, baby face." He ran the rest of the way down the hill, laughing manically.

She chuckled to herself. _This should be fun._

--

_A/N: I was going to write the whole day, but I decided that I should get over this 'writers block' and get on with the fic. Sorry._

Sam was dozing peacefully when Tony glanced in the rearview mirror.

"She should sleep in tomorrow." Ziva mumbled from the seat next to him.

He jumped slightly. "I thought you were sleeping too."

"I was." She yawned.

They rode in silence for a few minutes.

"You did not need to do that."

"What?"  
"Taking us out."

"I wanted too. Something told me that you don't get to go out with her much anymore."

Ziva chuckled. "Was it your keen investigating skills?"

He smiled. "That and the fact that you have the same grueling hours that I do."

"She's happy spending time with Jenny. It wouldn't be good if she wasn't though. Jen get's her most of the time."

"So it's like a custody agreement?"

"Exactly like one."

More silence followed.

"So what did the checkout person think when you went to check out with bubbles, Frisbees, hula-hoops and other childhood toys?"

"She was real friendly until she saw what I was buying, then she glanced at my hand and gave me a weird look."

"Why'd she 'glance at your hand'?"  
"I think she was looking for a ring."

Ziva laughed.

"What?"  
"I would have _paid_ to see that."

Tony laughed.

"What about you?"  
"What about me?"

"You made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I was wondering how you knew what PB and J meant."

"Peanut butter and jelly and _banana _thank you very much."

"Well whatever it was, it was good. Nicely done Miss David."

"Same to you Mr. DiNozzo. I had a very good time."

15 minutes of random conversation later, they were back at Ziva's apartment.

10 minutes after that Sam was in her pajamas and in bed.

8 minutes more and Tony and Ziva were on the couch watching the TV.

"Would you want to do that again next week?" Tony mumbled.

"Do what again next week?" She mumbled back.

"Go back to that place?"

Ziva sat in silence for a few moments thinking. Then, "Yes." She stood up, gave him a kiss on the cheek, walked down the hall to her room and closed the door.

Tony smiled to himself as he fell into a light slumber.

--

A/N: I'll try to update sooner. But school started yesterday (I am now officially a sophomore! Second year at high school for those who do not know the American term. Heh.), so we'll see. OH! By the way vamp926 has a new fic. It's AWESOME so far! CHECK IT OUT IF YOU LOVE ME! Hehe.


	21. Birthday

Weeks passed, and during that time, Tony had officially moved into the David residence. Ziva and Tony grew closer as a couple, and Sam began to consider Tony the father figure that she had never had. Jenny had even started sending Tony's checks to Ziva's apartment, and in Ziva's mind, _that_ made it official that they were a couple.

Tony was awoken from his sleep by a sudden need of water. He got out of bed, crept down the hall to the kitchen and filled a glass with the liquid. He leant against the counter and as he sipped his drink he thought about how his life had changed over the past few weeks. He and Ziva were together. He had a kid. Gibbs still had no clue. He grinned as he finished up his drink and then put the empty glass in the dishwasher. He quietly padded down the hallway and stopped just outside of Sam's room. Slowly, he pushed open the door, and made his way over to her sleeping form in her bed. He smiled slightly at the innocence she showed, and smiled bigger as he remembered some of her past 'not so innocent moments'. He carefully pulled the blanket up over her shoulders, and kissed her head gently. Sam smiled in her sleep, whether it was from Tony's kiss or something else he didn't know, but he smiled. The next stop on his list, was Ziva's room. He quietly crept down to the end of the hall and pushed open her door. What he saw next, was anything but what he had expected. Ziva was curled up in the middle of her bed, shaking and whimpering.

--

_Ziva looked to her right and saw the woman she was sent to protect, laying in a heap on the ground. She turned her head back towards the door, just in time to see the handle turning. Hoping that she was seeing things, she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them, only to come face to face with one of her captors. She struggled against the restraints that were binding her to the chair, but only succeeded in giving her wrists and ankles rope burn. She saw him coming toward her, and felt his hands on her shoulders. She fought harder and let out a scream._

_--_

Tony quickly made his way over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, but this seemed to agitate her even more. She started to struggle beneath his grasp and screamed.

"Ziva!" Tony shook her harder, and her eyes opened wide.

"Tony!" She gasped before starting to cry. He pulled her into his arms and whispered calming words while rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"It's ok. Shh. I'm here. It's ok. You're ok."

Ziva looked up into his eyes. "I saw him Tony. I saw _him._" She moaned before putting her head back on his chest.

Tony needed no explanation as to who _he_ was. Tomorrow was Sam's birthday, and he had no doubt in his mind that the memories that Ziva would have the night before wouldn't be good ones. He carefully scooted them both up to the top of the bed and lay down, Ziva still in his arms. That was how they fell asleep that night, and that was how Sam found them the next morning.

--

"Wake up! Wake up! It's my birthday! Wake up!" Tony and Ziva were awoken the next morning by a four-year-old bouncing on the bed.

"We're up, we're up." Tony groaned half awake.

"Can you make me pancakes for breakfast Mommy?" Sam asked sweetly.

"Sure, Sweetheart." Ziva groaned as she swung her legs out of bed.

"Ya know what?" Tony said suddenly, and Ziva and Sam looked a him. "Let me make breakfast. You two can stay here and," He looked around to see if there was anything for them to do, "watch TV." He picked the remote off of the nightstand and tossed it at Ziva, who caught it and smiled.

"That is very kind of you Tony. Are you sure?"

He smiled. "Yeah. The birthday girl should get to spend time with her mother."

--

"Auntie Jenny!" Sam shrieked as she unwrapped her gift. Jenny had gotten Sam a doll that came with a little plastic telescope. The doll was also wearing little footie pajamas with moons and stars on them. "I love it!" She ran to her aunt and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"What do you say?" Ziva reminded.

"Thank you!" She grinned, showing her small front teeth.

"You are quite welcome Sam." Jenny laughed.

"Ok! Time for my gift!" Tony said excitedly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. Grinning, he handed it to Sam.

A puzzled expression on her face, Sam opened the envelope up and pulled out 4 pieces of paper. "What are these?"

"Tickets!" Tony answered still grinning.

"To what?" Sam asked again, turning the tickets over and examining their backs.

"To the astronomy show that's at the museum this afternoon."

Sam's face fell for a moment while she processed what Tony had said, then turned into the biggest grin that Tony had ever seen her make. "Really?!"

He nodded, grinning even bigger.

Sam ran full force at him, her arms opened wide. Tony, quick thinking, bent down and caught her before she reached him. Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and squealed in delight.

"Thank you Tony! Thank you!" She cried, then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

--

"That was so cool!" Sam yelled as they walked out of the IMAX theater.

Tony chuckled. "I'm really glad that you enjoyed it." He grinned when Sam ran over and hugged his legs. "I loved it!" She turned to Jenny. "Did you like it Auntie Jenny?"

"I did! I will never look at the stars the same way again." She sent a smile at Tony and Ziva.

"Oh! Ice cream! Mommy! Please!" Sam pouted.

Ziva smiled. "Ok. How about you come with me and tell me what flavor you want." She put her hand out for Sam, who took it, and together, mother and daughter, made their way over to the ice cream stand.

Jenny chuckled as they walked away. "She's such a little ball of energy, isn't she?"

Tony nodded, and hesitated before speaking again. "Ziva had a nightmare last night. About…" He hesitated again. "Cairo."

Jen sighed. "It's normal. I try to convince her to get help, but she always refuses."

"I hated seeing her like that." Tony said, watching as the ice cream vendor gave Sam a cone with chocolate and strawberry ice cream on it.

Jen was quiet for a minute. "Are you falling for her?" Tony whipped his head around and opened his mouth to speak, but Jen put a hand up. "It's completely understandable if you are Tony, it was bound to happen sooner of later, with you being partners and all." She was quiet for a minute. "If you break Ziva's heart, she'll heal, but if you break Sam's heart…" She let that thought hang.

"I am _not_ going to hurt them, Jenny." Tony stated firmly. And Jen nodded.

"Good."

--

A/N: Ok. I cannot express how sorry I am for the looooong 'hiatus'. I've been _really _busy. Really. I have. I swear. The action _should_ be coming up soon. I hope that I can update sooner and faster. So…what'd you think? I think this is (one, if not _the_) favorite chapter of mine. Tiva, Sam and Tony. All I like. If you haven't already, you should check out vamp926 (there's a link to her profile in my profile)'s stories. She is truly amazing. We complete each other. Seriously! We do! She inspires me, I inspire her. We're genius's because of each other. So drop by, and tell her Piggie says hello. … (Don't ask.) Hehe! See ya soon!


	22. The Proposal

A/N: Ok. I had a thought after I had posted the last chapter. Because it took me so long to update, I'll give you each one free question. You can ask me anything. Personal, related to this story…anything you can think of, but you only get one question, one chance, one shot. So be thinking what to ask while you read this next chapter.

A/N: This takes place…Several…Months later.

--

_They had gone to their secret place that day. Sam was off playing with bubbles, leaving Tony and Ziva by themselves, sitting by their favorite tree._

"_Seems like she's occupied." Tony laughed as he sat back down next to his partner._

_Ziva chuckled. "It does not take much to amuse or distract her."_

_They sat in silence for a few minutes, Ziva reading a book, Tony lost in his thoughts._

"_There's been something that I've been meaning to tell you." He said nervously._

_Ziva slowly closed her book and set it aside, giving Tony her full attention. "What is it?"_

_He took a deep breath. "I think I am falling in love with you, Ziva David."_

_Ziva was silent for a moment, and Tony began to inwardly panic. "Then we have a problem."_

"_What's that?" He asked, internally cursing himself for his stupidity._

"_I think I am falling in love with you too."_

_It took a second or two for what she said to hit him, but when it did, he smiled. "That is a problem." He gently put a hand on her cheek and pulled her face to his, their lips meeting softly._

_--_

"I think you left something on the counter in the bathroom Zee." Tony said casually as he entered the kitchen one morning.

Ziva looked confused for a moment before deciding to go check for herself. Tony quickly sat down at the table, cup of coffee in hand and sent a thumbs up to Sam, who grinned.

Less than a minute later, there was a scream, and Ziva ran into the kitchen, something in her hand and a look of complete and utter shock on her face.

"Tony!" She yelled, and Tony continued to sip his coffee like normal. "Tony!" She yelled again.

"Yes dear?" He was trying very hard to contain the smirk that was forming on his lips.

"Are you serious?!"

"Ziva, quit yelling!"

She swallowed hard, and nodded. "Are you serious?" She asked again, much softer this time.

Tony set his coffee down and looked up at her. "I am." He looked directly into her eyes and didn't blink. "What do you say?"

Ziva was quiet while she searched for words. "I, I, I…" She was quiet while she tried to form a sentence. "I say…Yes."

Tony's face broke into a grin.

"I say yes! I say yes!" She cried and flew into Tony's arms.

Sam squealed with delight and ran to wrap her arms around Ziva and Tony's legs.

Tony took the object from Ziva's grasp, a necklace with a simple tag on it, and put it around her neck.

Ziva looked down at what the tag said, '_Marry Me Sweetcheeks? Love, LHB'_, and smiled. She was engaged.

Tony hoisted Sam up onto his hip and it was then that Ziva noticed a necklace on her daughter's neck.

"Where on earth did you get that?" She already had a pretty good idea, but felt that she should ask anyway.

Sam glanced at Tony. "Tony gave it to me when he asked me for permission to ask you to marry him." She grinned proudly.

"I see." She looked at Tony. "That couldn't have been cheap."

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Only the best for my future wife and daughter."

The necklace was a small golden Star of David that had a smaller silver Star of David onto of it, and was hanging off a gold chain.

"I really like the sound of that. Wife and daughter." Ziva smiled.

Tony grinned and then, he kissed his fiancée.

--

A/N: Short, I know, but the real action starts…Well, I'm not sure _exactly_ when, but soon. I promise. Ask away! (Note that I will not give out my address or full name.)


	23. Gone

A/N: The action starts…NOW! Also, in reply to DarkGrayWolf: Yes. Once when I was like…1, my parents and I went to Canada. I was kinda famous. A bunch of Oriental tourists saw me and all of them wanted to hold me and get their pictures taken with me. I guess it was because I was blonde…or something. :-) Lucky you! All of those places? Wow!

Now, on with the chapter!

--

The following Monday, Tony and Ziva walked into the bullpen.

"What's with you DiNozzo?" McGee asked from his desk.

"Nothing McGee. Just had a great weekend."

McGee rolled her eyes. "What's her name?"

Tony and Ziva shared a quick glance and Tony chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know." This comment was followed by an "Ouch!" And Gibbs passed Tony and went to sit at his desk. Gibbs sent Tony a glare, causing the younger man to quickly began his work.

--

The day progressed normally until a little past lunch time. The door to the director's office opened slowly, and Jenny walked out onto the catwalk.

--

Ziva glanced up and then back down at her paper then back up at Jenny. Her heart fell in her chest. She knew something was wrong.

--

Jen took a deep breath before slowly descending down the stairs. She knew that the result of what she was about to say would be disastrous. She reached the bottom of the steps and slowly walked to the middle of the bullpen. And took a deep breath. Gibbs looked up and nodded slightly, telling Jenny to speak. She closed her eyes and turned to Ziva.

"Sam's missing."

To Ziva, the world seemed to stop. She sent a pleading look at Tony.

"Are you sure? What happened?" He asked, getting up from his desk and walking over to his partner.

Jenny nodded slowly. "The hospital called me. Noemi is in the hospital. Apparently, someone snatched Sam from the park and knocked her unconscious."

"Oh my god." Ziva whispered, and it was then that Gibbs decided to interrupt.

"Did I miss something? Who the hell is Sam?"

Jenny turned to face him. "Jethro," She sighed, "this may come as a shock to you, but you need to stay calm."

Gibbs glared at her. "Who the hell is Sam?"

The bullpen was silent for a moment before Ziva whispered. "My daughter."

Gibbs blinked once making sure he had heard the young woman right. "Your _daughter_?"

Ziva nodded slowly as Tony rubbed circles on her back.

Gibbs let out a frustrated sigh, then his face scrunched up in confusion. "You knew about this?" He yelled at Jenny and Tony. The two looked at each other, then at Ziva, and then back at Gibbs.

"Yeah Boss."

Jenny nodded and motioned for Gibbs to follow her into the elevator.

--

"How could you have known and not have told me?" Gibbs yelled inside the metal box.

"It wasn't up to me to tell!" She yelled back.

"Like hell it wasn't! I was putting that girl's mother's life on the line every day! She should have told me!"

"And if she had, you'd have assigned her to desk duty. Ziva is a _field_ agent. She's careful, she knows what she has to go back to at the end of the day!"

Gibbs glared at her before sighing. "What happened?"

"Sam usually stays with my housekeeper, Noemi, when Ziva and I are working. Today, Noemi took Sam to the park and was knocked unconscious. A witness called 911 and local LEO's are there now. I suggest you get your team, and go investigate." Jenny flipped the switch and the elevator started moving again.

Gibbs sighed and flipped the switch again and the elevator shook to a stop. He ran a hand over his face. "How could I have not seen this."

Jenny chuckled. "You can't see _everything_ Jethro. Besides, Ziva did a good job at hiding it. If I hadn't have been with her when she was born, I wouldn't have known either."

"When did it happen?"

Jen bit her lip and turned to face Gibbs. "In Cairo. That's when…That's when Sam…and Sarah…were conceived."

"And who's Sarah?" Gibbs had a feeling that he knew.

"Sam's twin. Sarah died a number of years ago when they were both babies." Jenny whispered. "Jethro, we have to find her."

Gibbs nodded and flipped the switch. "We will." The elevator dinged, indicating that it had returned to the bullpen. "Grab your gear!" Tony ran back to his desk and grabbed his bag, and McGee holstered his weapon.

Gibbs crouched down net to Ziva. "You don't have to come if you don't want to." He said gently.

Ziva wiped her eyes and opened the drawer that contained her gun. "No. I am coming with you. She is my daughter." She pushed the magazine into her gun and cocked it, then looked up at Gibbs. "And I am going to help find her."

--

The ride over to the crime scene was quiet. Tony and Ziva rode to the park in one car, his hand on her thigh and her hand on his, the whole way. Gibbs and McGee rode to the park in another car, Gibbs filling McGee in on everything Jenny had told him.

They arrived and found the park taped off in yellow tape. Ziva took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.

"Tony, you sketch. McGee, interview the witness. Ziva," Gibbs paused. "Take pictures." Gibbs walked over to the LEO that was in charge.

McGee came up and stood in front of Ziva. "I'm sorry. We'll find her."

Ziva looked up at him, tears starting to form again. "Thank you McGee."

"Yeah." McGee gently put a hand on her shoulder, before turning and walking over to the witness.

"Are you ok?" Tony asked a few minutes later.

Ziva shook her head. "No. I am not alright." He quickly made his way over to her and put his hand on her shoulder the same way McGee had. "We'll find her. I promise. I won't rest until we do."

She smiled sadly. "I hope so."

"I love you." He said and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too."

--

A few minutes later, Ziva spotted it. She slowly made her way over to the jacket that was laying on the bench and picked it up. She turned it over in her hands before bringing it up to her face and inhaling it's scent. Tears made their's way down her face and she felt hands on her shoulder. She turned around and came face to face with Gibbs. He pulled her into his arms and let her cry.

--

"What exactly did you see, Miss…"

"Baxter. _Mrs. _Baxter." McGee nodded. "Well, I was out walking Max," She indicated to the small dog on the leash that she was holding, "and I saw a man get out of a car, run over to that woman who got taken to the hospital, hit her over the head and grab the little girl. Then he ran back to the car, put her in the back, and sped away."

"Did you get a good look at the man?"

The woman nodded. "He was tall, dark skinned. Middle Eastern or African American."

McGee nodded as he wrote that down in his notepad. "What about the car?"

The woman pursed her lips in thought. "It was black. A Mazada, I think."

"Did you get a look at the license plate?"

"Lima-Golf-Hotel-Two-Nine-Five." McGee looked at her. "I watch a lot of crime shows. Observation is key." She shrugged, and McGee smiled.

--

Gibbs walked into Abby's lab later that afternoon. "Abs, I need you to put out an Amber Alert."

Abby looked up. "Oh no!" She pushed herself, while she was in her chair, over to her computers. "Who on?"

Tony, Ziva and McGee walked into her lab just then, and Tony answered her question. "A 4-year-old girl. About 3 foot 7. 74 pounds. Dark brown hair and eyes. Last seen at Milford Park."

"Name?" Abby asked as she typed all the information into the computer.

Tony cast a glance at Ziva, who was starting to cry again. "Samantha Grace David."

Abby froze, and slowly turned around. She glanced from Gibbs, to Tony, to Ziva, to McGee, and then back to Ziva.

"_David_? As in," She paused, "Ziva _David_?" Ziva took a breath and nodded slowly. Abby shot out of her chair and pulled Ziva into a bone crushing hug. "Ziva! I'm _so_ sorry! We'll find her! I promise! I'll perform my best work! I promise!" She rushed back to the computer and sent out the Amber Alert.

"Thank you Abby." Ziva said softly, and Tony put his arm around Ziva, pulling her into an one armed hug.

Gibbs saw this innocent sign of affection and decided that enough was enough. "You two, elevator, now." He said quieter and softer than normal. Tony and a teary eyed Ziva glanced at each other before following their boss into his office.

--

A/N: Ok. I realize that that may not be how you issue an Amber Alert, but for Abby to know about Sam, I felt this was a good way. Please review and tell me what you thought. I worked on this chapter all day, and I'd normally post this tomorrow, but I can't wait. Was it worth the wait for action?? Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up as soon as I can get it written.


	24. Elevator Talk

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and adds so far! I got a little emotional during this chapter…I don't know if you will, but I hope so. :-D

--

As soon as the elevator started to move, Gibbs flipped the switch, then he turned around and stared at his agents.

"What's going on between the two of you?"

They looked at each other before Tony finally spoke. "I know what you said about rule twelve Boss, but I," he quickly corrected himself, "we, couldn't help it. As soon as I found out about Sam, I fell in love with her, and it didn't take long for me to fall in love with Ziva." He pulled her into his arms. "I asked her to marry me Boss."

Gibbs stood there facing the two in shock. He'd figured that they had been dating, that much had been obvious, but _engagement_? He'd admit that he hadn't seen that coming.

"And I said yes." Ziva added in a small voice. She reached down her shirt and pulled out the chain with the dog tag on it. The light inside the elevator reflected off the newly added engagement ring that was hanging off the chain, and lying on top of the tag.

Gibbs stared at the ring for a moment before speaking again.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter?"

Tears rolled down Ziva face and she looked down, Tony put a hand on her back, and rubbed soothing circles to try to calm her back down. After a moment, Ziva took a deep breath and looked back up at Gibbs.

"To keep her safe. I told one person," she looked at Tony, "and look what happened. She got kidnapped. Imagine what would have happened if I had told the whole team." She was sobbing now. "I cannot loose her Gibbs, she's all I have left. I already lost one child, I cannot loose another."

Gibbs nodded. He could understand that logic, and he knew the pain of loosing a child. He pulled her into another hug and let her cry.

As he watched his fiancée cry into their boss' shirt, Tony felt the tears prickle at the back of his eyes. He turned around, hands on his hips, and took a deep shaky breath. Before he knew what he was doing, his fist made contact with the wall of the elevator. He felt and heard a _crunch_ and this sent an odd sense of satisfaction through his body. He pulled his fist back fro the wall and saw that there was a large dent in the silver siding.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled out in shock and Tony turned to face him.

"I'm, I'm sorry Boss. I, I don't know why I did that."

Gibbs' eyes were soft. Understanding even. He nodded and flipped the switch.

Ziva took Tony's hand in hers and gently ran a thumb over his now bleeding knuckles. "You are bleeding."

Tony nodded. "I know."

Ziva's sad eyes locked with his. "Why did you do that?"

He was quiet for a moment and when he finally spoke, his voice shook. "Because she's my daughter too."

Ziva bit her lip and Tony pulled her into his arms, and he rubbed his non-bloody hand up an down her back until the elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal autopsy.

"Boss?" Tony looked at his the older man, confusion on his face.

"You need to get that looked at." Gibbs indicated to his bloody, purple and swollen fist.

"No. It's fine Boss. Just a little bruise." Gibbs sent him a glare and quickly slapped him across the back of the head. "Ouch! Ok, fine. I'll go." Gibbs nodded and led the couple out of the elevator and into autopsy.

When the doors swished open, Ducky looked up. "Ah, Jethro." He greeted and the moment that he saw Ziva, his expression saddened. "Abby told me what happened." He walked over to her and gave her a hug. "Jethro will find her, I'm sure of that."

Ziva nodded. "I know he will." She stepped back and quickly wiped her eyes.

"Now, what brings you all to autopsy?"

Tony sheepishly stepped forward and held his hand out for Ducky to see.

"Hm. What happened here?" He gently poked the purple area and Tony visibly winced.

"I punched the elevator."

Ducky inhaled sharply through his teeth. "Well, I don't think it's broken, but we'll get an x-ray just to be sure." He went over to the closet and pulled out the portable x-ray machine, when the doors swished open again.

"Boss!" McGee said, slightly out of breath. "We've got a hit on the BOLO."

--

A/N: Please review!


	25. Found?

"The car was spotted by a state trooper just outside of Manassas. Also, I got a hit on the license plate. The car is registered to an 'Isaac Coleman'. I checked him out, but he didn't exist until five days ago." McGee informed Gibbs and Ziva after they had entered the bullpen.

"Let's go get the car. Maybe Abby can tell us something about this guy that we don't know." Gibbs ordered as he holstered his gun and Ziva and McGee followed suit.

"Where's Tony?" McGee asked as the trio entered the elevator.

"He broke his hand." Gibbs replied, a slight smirk on his face.

--

"Ducky, I'm fine. Can I please go back to work?" Tony whined as Ducky wrapped his hand. Ducky responded by deliberately poking him in the middle of the large bruise, causing Tony to yelp in pain. "Ow! What'd you do that for?!"

"You really should go to the hospital and get a cast for your hand, but due to the current circumstances, I think that this," he finished wrapping his hand and reached for two safety pins, "will due." He gave him a stern look. "For now. As soon as possible, go to the hospital, and get a cast."

"Ducky, it'll be fine." Tony assured as he jumped down off of one of the tables.

"Fine, what do I know? I'm only a doctor."

--

"There is an extra set of tire tracks." Gibbs noted as he looked down at the pavement. Ziva snapped a picture and turned to Gibbs, her eyes pleading for some sort of explanation. "We'll figure it out. I know we will." He assured her.

"Boss!" McGee called from his place in the back seat of the car, causing Ziva and Gibbs to hurry over. McGee held up a small purple sneaker and Ziva gasped.

"That is Sam's!" She reached for it, but Gibbs grabbed her wrist.

"It's evidence." He whispered to her before turning to McGee. "Bag it." McGee nodded and dropped it into an evidence bag.

Ziva went around to the back of the car and snapped a picture of the license plate. "Plate matches Isaac Coleman's car." Ziva said, fear showing in her voice.

Gibbs took his hat off and ran a hand over his face. When he went to put his hat back on, his eye caught something on top of a building. "McGee." He motioned with his eyes to the building and McGee grinned.

"A camera! I'll find the owner and get the tapes."

--

"Here we see 'Isaac 'get out of the car, grab Sam out of the back and put her in what looks like an SUV." McGee narrated as they watched the security camera footage.

"We can see that McGee." Gibbs yelled, and then, the elevator dinged open and Tony ran into the bullpen. "Where were you DiNozzo?"

"Getting things from Ziva's apartment for Abby." He held up a bag containing a hairbrush and another bag containing Sam's CD player.

"DNA and fingerprints." Ziva whispered and Tony nodded.

The phone on McGee's desk rang and he hurried to answer it. "McGee. Uh-huh, we'll be right down." He put the phone back down on the cradle. "That was Abby. She found something."

--

"I found a small handprint on the car window, and as soon as Tony gives me that," She motioned to the CD player, "I can prove whether or not it belongs to Sam."

"You could have told us that over the phone." Gibbs pointed out and received a glare in response.

"True, but I couldn't have _showed_ you _this_." She went over to her computer and clicked the mouse a few times. "There was a partial print on a coffee cup under the seat. I ran it, and got this." The results were a blinking 'Sealed File'.

"Who sealed it?" Gibbs asked.

"None of our friends. CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, NSA, ATF. I'm thinking that 'Isaac Coleman' has a friend with mad skills." The computer dinged again and Abby clicked the mouse again. "It's confirmed. The prints in the car are Samantha David's."

Ziva nodded. "I had no doubt." She started to tear up again, and Tony put his arm around her, pulling her close.

"I was able to enhance the footage from the security camera. Take a look at this." The footage appeared on the plasma and suddenly zoomed in on the license plate.

"Xray-Bravo-Tango-Seven-One-Three." Gibbs read off of the screen, and McGee had a sudden thought.

"Abby, have you traced the GPS chip in the SUV?" He asked, making his way over to the computers.

"Not yet. I've been a little busy." She admitted, he nodded and began typing away on the keyboard.

"Got it!" He yelled after minute. "It's located at an abandoned railroad district in the Bristow."

--

"_DiNozzo, David, are you in position?" _Gibbs asked through the earpiece.

"Yeah Boss, we're in position." He replied.

"_Alright. Let's bring your girl home. On my signal."_ Tony looked at Ziva, a look of determination was on both of their faces. _"Now!"_ Tony and Ziva kicked the back door and immediately saw Gibbs and McGee through the empty warehouse. "Damn!" Gibbs yelled, ripping the earpiece out of his ear. Ziva, however, was busy making her way to the middle of the room. There was a small table with a small piece of paper on it and a chair a few feet away that had pieces of tape and rope on the ground next to it. Ziva peered down at the piece of paper, and noticed what looked like a phone number written on it in black ink.

"I am going to need an evidence bag!" She yelled.


	26. Deal

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I hope this reaches standards!

--

Tony ran his hands threw his hair. He was frustrated. He was pissed. He was tired. He glanced over at Ziva, the poor woman looked like she was about to burst into tears. The evidence bag containing the piece of paper hung loosely in her hands. He walked over and put a hand on her back.

"We'll find her." Her sad eyes locked with his and at that moment, Tony wished harder than he had ever wished in his life, that those words were the truth.

--

"There was definitely someone here." Agent Tyler said as he bagged the rope. "Hopefully we'll be able to get DNA off of this to confirm that it was the girl." Gibbs nodded, his main focus, however, was on the two of his agents that were currently going through the most hell. "I understand that this is personal?" Tyler asked hesitantly and Gibbs nodded again.

"The missing girl is one of my agents' daughter." He motioned over to Ziva.

"David? I didn't know she had a kid."

Gibbs wiped his brow. "Neither did I." He turned his full attention back to Tyler. "Get those back to Abby ASAP." Tyler nodded and quickly made his way out of the warehouse.

--

"You got something Abs?" Gibbs asked as he, McGee, Tony and Ziva entered Abby's lab later that day.

"Yeah." The hair and skin pulled of the ductape matched Sam's DNA." She sent an apologetic look to the group. "I matched the fingerprints from the warehouse to the fingerprints from inside the car. We're dealing with the same sicko. Also," Abby continued as they all turned to leave, "the piece of paper that Ziva found? It's a phone number that belongs to a cell phone that belongs to Isaac Coleman." She held out the evidence bag and Ziva took it. "I thought that since it's Ziva's daughter Ziva should call?" She suggested and Gibbs nodded.

"Go ahead Ziva."

She nodded and reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone.

"Abs, maybe you should trace it?" Tony suggested and Abby quickly made her way over to stand in front of her computer.

Ziva punched the numbers into her phone, put it on speaker and set it on the table that was in the middle of the lab.

"_Hello?" _The voice on the other end greeted.

"Who is this?" Ziva demanded, not in the mood for manners.

"_Ah, Ziva. It is about time that you called."_

"Who are you?" She demanded again and the voice laughed.

"_I am hurt that you do not remember me! We used to be so close! Oh! Before I forget, tell your little friend to stop the trace."_

"Why?" Ziva stalled and then she heard the sound of a gun being cocked.

"_Why you asked? Because if you value your beautiful daughter's life, you will do what I say!" _The voice went from calm to crazed in record time and Ziva reluctantly motioned for Abby to stop the trace.

"We are not tracing your whereabouts any longer."

"_Good. Now on to business." The voice cleared its throat. "Unfortunatly I am not just going to give Samantha back to you. I need something in return."_

Ziva glanced at Gibbs and Tony. "What do you want?"

"_You." _The lab was silent for a moment before the voice spoke again. _"I will give you some time to think it over. Would you like to talk to Samantha?" _Ziva could almost hear the smirk in the man's voice.

"Yes." Ziva whispered and then she could hear the phone being given to her daughter.

"_Mommy!" _Sam cried and Ziva felt tears form in her eyes.

"Sam!" She cried. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"_No, I'm fine." _There was silence for a moment. _"I'm so scared Mommy!" _Ziva could hear Sam start to sob.

"I know Sammy, I know. But you have to stay brave, ok? Stay brave for me? Ok? I promise, you will be safe soon." She wiped at a tear that had managed to make its way down her face.

"_I'll try."_

"Good." Ziva took a shaky breath. "I love you so much. You know that, yes?"

"_Yeah. I know. I love you too Mommy." _Ziva heard the phone switch hands again.

"_That's an awfully big promise to make Ziva." The voice scolded. "You should not make promises that you are not sure you can keep."_

"I intended to keep that promise and this one as well. As soon as I find you, I will kill you." She hissed and the man chuckled.

"_Now, now. Is that the way to treat the man that is holding your daughter at gun point? My finger could slip on the trigger and put a bullet through her pretty little head."_

"You would not dare!" Ziva yelled and a gunshot went off followed by a scream.

"_You are right, I will not shoot anyone. Yet. I will call back in 15 minutes. You better pick up the phone." _And with that final threat, the man hung up.

The lab was silent for a minute before Ziva spoke. "I am going to do it."

"Are you crazy?" Tony asked, fear for his fiancés life was etched on his face.

"She is my daughter Tony, it is my job to protect her!" Ziva was crying now.

"Ziva, my office." Gibbs said gently and the woman nodded. The two began to walk out into the hallway, but were quickly aware of a third person following them. "DiNozzo." Gibbs said sharply, but Tony had other plans.

"Gibbs, Ziva's my fiancée and Sam is practically my child. I would like to be involved in any decision making that could potentially affect this family." Tony prepared himself for the head slap that was surely to come, but all that happened was Gibbs' eyes softened.

"Alright." Tony was slightly shocked at this one worded answer, but quickly stepped into the elevator behind his boss and fiancée. When the box started to move, Gibbs flipped the switch. "What do you think Ziva?"

Ziva took a deep shaky breath before speaking. "I think that I need to do what he says." Gibbs nodded.

"Me too." He ran a hand through his hair and down his tired face. "When he calls back, tell him that you'll do whatever it is that he wants you to do, but in return, Sam gets to go free." Ziva nodded.

"Wait a minute. That's it? You're going to sacrifice yourself?" Tony yelled and Ziva whipped around to face him.

"She is my daughter! I will do whatever I can to keep her safe!" She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "I love you Tony, but before we started dating, I made a list of the most important things in my life. Priorities, if you will. Sam is number one, you are number two, NCIS is three and I am four. I have to follow that list! I promised myself that I would follow that list!" She was sobbing now, so Tony pulled her against his chest.

"You aren't even making sense now Ziva." He whispered, stroking her hair. They stood there in each other's arms until they both lost track of time. Ziva finally stepped back and wiped her eyes.

"I have to do this, do you understand?"

Tony shook his head. "No, I don't. There has to be another way!" He thought for a moment. "We can have teams follow you, or we can have you wear a GPS device! There has to be something!" He was getting frantic now.

"Tony…" Ziva began, shaking her head sadly.

"No!" He yelled. "I don't want to loose you!"

She put a hand gently on his cheek, at a loss of what to say. "I am sorry."

"Boss!" Tony turned to Gibbs. "Boss, tell her that she doesn't have to go! Tell her there's another way! Please!"

It broke Gibbs' heart slightly at how his senior field agent was behaving, but he knew that if Ziva's mind was made up, it was made up.

Ziva turned to him. "Gibbs, if you had a chance to go back in time and save Kelly, would you take it?" Ziva had fresh tears in her eyes.

Gibbs' breath caught in his throat as he remembered his dead daughter. Images of Halloween and quality father daughter time flashed through the marine's head, and slowly, he nodded. "Yeah, I would." Gibbs felt tears prickling at the back of his eyelids and quickly blinked them back.

Ziva turned back to Tony. "I have already lost one daughter, I will _not_ lose another." She made to flip the elevator switch when her phone rang. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out, flipping it open as she brought it up to her ear. "Yes?"

"_I am glad you answered! Now, what have you decided?"_

Ziva glanced at Gibbs and then to Tony. "It is a deal."

--

A/N: I whipped this up this morning because I couldn't sleep. Also, the paragraph with the 'list', I made that up ages ago, wanting to put it in somewhere...I don't even know now! But I wanted to put it in somewhere, but I forgot. So I figured that it might fit here, but I don't really think it does! Oops! Thanks for reading! Please review! My evil kitty mauled me and I have a HUGE scratch on my wrist and palm. It hurts. :-( Also, I plugged my iPod into the computer, and it erased everything off of it. This would make it the…3rd time. I'm not too happy… Reviews make me happy though! If you wanna make me happy, REVIEW!


	27. The Switch

A/N: If you haven't already, please check out my new fic 'Hopeful Theories'. It's a joint project with arashichaser, and it's AWESOME! It does, however, contain spoilers for Legend and Semper Fidelis and the season finale, so be warned.

--

After their conversation in the elevator, Tony still hadn't given up thinking of another plan. Gibbs agreed to have another team in place when they made the switch, but his gut said that it wouldn't make a difference. Agent Balboa and his agents, Whistler, Reynolds and Getz, and a few other agents were the before mentioned other team.

"When do you suppose he'll call back?" McGee asked as the four agents, as well as Ducky and Abby, sat in the bullpen. The sun was setting and the sky was striped with colors of pink, orange and yellow. Tony thought that it was ironic, how beautiful it could be when his life was about to change for the worse.

Everyone else in the bullpen was silent at the young man's question, so McGee bit his lip and looked back down at his twiddling thumbs. They sat in a tense silence until Ziva's phone rang 15 minutes later.

"Yes?" She asked, answering it on the fist ring.

"_It is so nice to hear your voice again."_

"Where are you? Where are we making the switch?" Ziva wasn't in the mood for games.

"_Oh, straight to business then? Alright. Here is where you can make the switch."_ Ziva quickly grabbed a pen and wrote down the coordinates on a small stick it note. _"The deadline is 2100. Do not be late." _The voice warned."

"Do not worry, I will be there." She slowly closed her phone and studied the address.

"Where is it Ziva?" Gibbs asked softly and she slowly looked up.

"I am not sure. He gave me latitude and longitude."

"Here," Abby said, standing up and taking the paper from Ziva to McGee, "McGee'll trace it."

McGee typed the coordinates into his computer and in a moment, had a map pulled up on the plasma.

"Ok," He began, standing up, "here," He pointed to a large building on the map, "is the warehouse we raided earlier." He used the remote to zoom away from the warehouse. "The coordinates are here." He pointed to a street that had buildings on one side and a park on the other.

"That's a ways away." Ducky commented.

"We have until 2100." Ziva answered already getting her weapon ready.

"Alright." Gibbs picked up his phone. "Balboa? It's time to go."

--

McGee had decided to stay back at NCIS in case they needed his help back at base. Tony, Gibbs and Ziva rode in one car, Balboa and his partner Whistler in another, and Reynolds and Getz in yet another. They made it to the destination in record time and set up so that they were stationed around the perimeter. They made sure that the cars were parked a few blocks from where the switch was supposed to be made, and the cars were parked at enough distance to not raise suspicions. Back at NCIS, Jenny had MTAC set up as home base. All the agents' feed was heard and seen on the screen, and McGee, Abby and Ducky were waiting in anticipation for the action to start.

Ziva was a nervous wreck, which was completely understandable, when her phone rang again. She glanced at the caller ID and seeing that it was her 'friend', answered it.

"I am here, where are you?"

"_Just around the corner. Be patient Ziva. Oh, and make sure that you are alone. I do not want any stay bullets to hurt poor little Samantha."_

Ziva motioned for Tony and Gibbs to back up, which they did, and turned around just in time to see the car pull around the corner.

"_Ah. You have not changed a bit."_

Ziva glared at the driver of the car just before it came to a stop. Nothing happened for a minute, but then the back door opened and Sam slowly got out of the car.

"_I will give you a minute to say your goodbyes."_

Sam ran up to Ziva and they wrapped their arms around each other, sobbing.

"Mommy!" Sam cried and Ziva gripped her even tighter.

"Oh. Thank goodness you are safe!" Ziva whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. Reluctantly, Ziva pulled away from her daughter. "I want you to have something." She reached for the chain that was around her neck and lifted it up around her head. "I want you to keep this safe for me while I am gone." She handed Sam the necklace that had her engagement tag and ring on it.

"No." Sam sniffed, putting her hands up so that Ziva couldn't put it in her hands. "That's like saying goodbye."

Ziva nodded. "But it is not."

"You'll come back then?" Sam asked, her voice pleading, and Ziva went quiet. "That's what I thought." Sam moaned sadly.

"I will try my best though." She kissed Sam on the forehead. "Now it is time for me to go." Sam bit her lip and bit back a sob. "Tony is around the corner of that building. I want you to run to him and not look back. Ok?" Sam nodded and Ziva slipped the necklace around her neck. "I love you_ so_ much."

"I know. I love you too." Sam whispered.

Ziva noticed that the window of the car was starting to roll down. She turned to Sam one last time and yelled. "Run!" Sam took off running towards the building and Ziva ran towards the car, hopped in the passenger side and the car screeched off.

--

Gibbs ran past Sam and out into the middle of the street, quickly emptying his gun in the cars departing direction. The bullets shattered the back windshield and hit the bumper of the car, but the car continued moving. He heard more gunshots, but knew that they did nothing to stop the vehicle.

He sighed, uttered a curse and turned around, heading back to his agent.

--

Tony saw Sam running towards him and he quickly threw his gun aside. He took her into his arms and held her tight, praying with all his might that Gibbs would be able to bring Ziva back as well. He heard and felt Sam crying and couldn't help but let a few tears loose himself. While his daughter was safe, his fiancée was gone. He heard gunfire and heard Sam shriek with terror, he held her tighter and tried his best to calm her down.

"Shh. Sam, it's ok. You're safe. It's ok." He couldn't help but feel like he was lying. Everything was _not _ok, and he knew it. Her mother was gone, she had just been kidnapped by a crazed man, only god knew what had happened. He held her close and waited for Gibbs to return.

"_Agent DiNozzo, Agent Gibbs, anybody, do you copy?" Jenny yelled from inside Tony's ear._

"Yeah, we copy." Gibbs said as he came into Tony's view.

"_What the hell happened?" She yelled._

"We got Sam back," Gibbs began, "but Ziva's gone."

"_McGee! Put out an BOLO for the car with the license plate…Gibbs, did you get a look at the license plate?"_

"Yeah Jen, but it won't matter. This bastard's smart. He's gonna switch cars." Gibbs heard silence from on the other end.

"_Then what do you propose we do, Special Agent Gibbs?"_

Gibbs was silent for a minute before uttering a simple, "I don't know."

--

The ride back to NCIS was silent. Tony had decided to ride in the back with Sam, who was long asleep, while Gibbs drove. Balboa's team had stayed at the scene and was waiting for the forensic materials to arrive so that they could start processing. Both men were blaming themselves for the loss of Ziva and both were making a promise to Sam that they would find her and bring her home.

--

A/N: Ok, so what I have planned next is Sam meets the team. Please review! The more reviews I get the more likely I am to remember this fic. I'm more interested in my latest one. It's up to date and oh so much fun! Check out arashichaser's fics. She's gooood.

Also, if you catch any mistakes, please let me know!


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